Experts say milk standards too low
Source: Xinhua |
July 5, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has been cleaning up its raw milk industry to ensure safety at source, but some experts say the nation is implementing standards that are among the lowest in the world.
Gu Jicheng, secretary-general of the Dairy Association of China, said agricultural departments eliminated 6,890 disqualified raw milk stations during a three-year campaign that began in 2008.
In the wake of the campaign, a total of 13,503 raw milk stations and 7,980 raw milk transport vehicles throughout the country are now subject to monitoring by local authorities, Gu said in an interview with the People's Daily.
"All the stations are either run by dairy companies, cow farms, or cooperatives established by dairy farmers," said Gu, who used the rise of machinery-milking to 87 percent from 51 percent nearly three years ago as an example of improved hygiene standards.
However, Guo Benheng, president of Bright Dairy & Food, said that China's raw milk standards are nearly the world's lowest, according to a report by Sina, a leading online media company.
The country's raw milk standards for protein content and colony-forming units - a measure of bacteria - are much lower than those of the United States and the European Union, the report said, citing Wang Dingmian, an industrial expert.
"International standards for the dairy industry also require checks of antibiotics and nitrites in raw milk, but China does not even make such requirements," Guo said.
The credibility of China's dairy industry was severely damaged in 2008 when milk laced with melamine sickened nearly 300,000 children and killed at least six.
China's milk processing technologies are among the world's best, but the problem lies in the low standard of the raw milk, said Guo.
Since 2009, agricultural departments has concentrated on the safety and supervision of raw milk, and cracked down on the illegal adding of substances such as melamine.
In January, the nation's top quality regulator ordered that dairy product makers must obtain new production certificates this year.
By the end of March, only 643 dairy firms from a total of 1,176 companies had qualified, said Ren Fazheng, a China Agricultural University professor.
Gu Jicheng, secretary-general of the Dairy Association of China, said agricultural departments eliminated 6,890 disqualified raw milk stations during a three-year campaign that began in 2008.
In the wake of the campaign, a total of 13,503 raw milk stations and 7,980 raw milk transport vehicles throughout the country are now subject to monitoring by local authorities, Gu said in an interview with the People's Daily.
"All the stations are either run by dairy companies, cow farms, or cooperatives established by dairy farmers," said Gu, who used the rise of machinery-milking to 87 percent from 51 percent nearly three years ago as an example of improved hygiene standards.
However, Guo Benheng, president of Bright Dairy & Food, said that China's raw milk standards are nearly the world's lowest, according to a report by Sina, a leading online media company.
The country's raw milk standards for protein content and colony-forming units - a measure of bacteria - are much lower than those of the United States and the European Union, the report said, citing Wang Dingmian, an industrial expert.
"International standards for the dairy industry also require checks of antibiotics and nitrites in raw milk, but China does not even make such requirements," Guo said.
The credibility of China's dairy industry was severely damaged in 2008 when milk laced with melamine sickened nearly 300,000 children and killed at least six.
China's milk processing technologies are among the world's best, but the problem lies in the low standard of the raw milk, said Guo.
Since 2009, agricultural departments has concentrated on the safety and supervision of raw milk, and cracked down on the illegal adding of substances such as melamine.
In January, the nation's top quality regulator ordered that dairy product makers must obtain new production certificates this year.
By the end of March, only 643 dairy firms from a total of 1,176 companies had qualified, said Ren Fazheng, a China Agricultural University professor.
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