Chinese safety officials say the latest inspection of newly produced liquid milk has found no traces of contamination.
State-run
news media quote officials Thursday as saying that tests showed no
trace of the chemical melamine in samples of liquid milk recently
produced by 65 major Chinese brands.
The announcement came
after Taiwanese health officials ordered a worldwide recall of six
types of Nestle milk products from Heilongjiang, a northern Chinese
province, after tests showed they contained low doses of melamine.
Nestle officials in Switzerland say their products from China are safe
and urged Taiwan to introduce "science-based" standards.
The
tainted milk scandal broke last month, after Chinese-based Sanlu Group
acknowledged its baby formula products were laced with melamine. The
tainted products have been blamed for the deaths of four infants and
sickening at least 53,000 others.
The scandal has led to
the arrests of 27 people in China, and the recall or prohibition of
Chinese-made milk products by more than 50 nations.
Meanwhile,
authorities in California and in the northeastern U.S. state of
Connecticut said popular Chinese candy contaminated with melamine was
found in several stores.
The industrial chemical is used in
plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants. Authorities believe it was
added to milk to make it appear richer in protein.
As China
marked its national day Wednesday, President Hu Jintao said lessons
must be learned from the scandal. During a tour of dairy companies in
eastern China's Anhui province, he urged companies to strengthen
management and food safety checks.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
