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Faulty foreign baby formula puts Chinese parents in quandary
Source: Xinhua |
November 24, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
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CHINESE parents continue to favor high-cost foreign infant formula, although they are not short of quality issues.
China rejected around 23 tons of faulty milk powder imports in September. A large portion was infant formula, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the country's consumer quality watchdog, said recently.
"I saw the news on television. It's only about iodine deficiency. It's not a fatal problem," said a woman surnamed Wang shopping in a local market in south China's Guangzhou City. Wang, who said she had lost faith in domestic dairy brands because of quality concerns, bought three cans of infant formula produced by Illinois-based Mead Johnson.
Defective milk powder
According to the AQSIQ, nearly 20 tons of Australia-imported infant formula were returned due to insufficient content of pantothenic acid.
Shortage of this may cause indigestion and affect a baby's immune system. About three tons of New Zealand infant formula were rejected because of insufficient content of iodine or choline.
The faulty products are in addition to the 270 tons of defective milk powder either returned or destroyed at Chinese customs from July 2011 to August 2012. Three quarters of the products were infant formula, according to AQSID data.
The incidents follow a string of other similar quality issues.
Chinese consumers used to find insects in US Abbott-brand infant formula, while radiation traces were detected in baby milk powder by Meiji Co because of the nuclear leakage in Japan's March 11, 2011, earthquake.
Despite all this, foreign brands continue to take the lion's share of the country's baby formula market, as Chinese dairy producers are still feeling the effects of the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal. The incident killed at least six babies and left 300,000 ill across the country.
Wang Dingmian, an expert on dairy products, said no country can give a 100-percent guarantee on the safety of milk powder products due to the intricate production procedures. But most Chinese consumers choose foreign baby formula over home products because of their relatively stable quality.
Imported infant formula accounts for 70 percent of China's baby formula market, said a report released in October by Guangdong-based CIConsulting, an industry research institution.
Rising imports
Customs data showed that China's milk powder imports rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 528,000 tons in 2011. The total value of the imports surged 20.7 percent to US$2.51 billion during the period. New Zealand, Australia and Singapore were the country's top three sources of milk powder imports last year.
For some Chinese mothers, the incidents of faulty foreign baby formula have to some extent changed their belief that the more expensive, the better the quality.
"Although I live in Inner Mongolia, the country's largest dairy production base, I still don't want to buy local milk powder because domestic producers have hurt consumer confidence," said Ma Rong, a website editor in Inner Mongolia. "Now that expensive foreign milk power products are also flawed, I wonder if there is any milk powder that is safe enough to feed my one-year-old daughter."
China rejected around 23 tons of faulty milk powder imports in September. A large portion was infant formula, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the country's consumer quality watchdog, said recently.
"I saw the news on television. It's only about iodine deficiency. It's not a fatal problem," said a woman surnamed Wang shopping in a local market in south China's Guangzhou City. Wang, who said she had lost faith in domestic dairy brands because of quality concerns, bought three cans of infant formula produced by Illinois-based Mead Johnson.
Defective milk powder
According to the AQSIQ, nearly 20 tons of Australia-imported infant formula were returned due to insufficient content of pantothenic acid.
Shortage of this may cause indigestion and affect a baby's immune system. About three tons of New Zealand infant formula were rejected because of insufficient content of iodine or choline.
The faulty products are in addition to the 270 tons of defective milk powder either returned or destroyed at Chinese customs from July 2011 to August 2012. Three quarters of the products were infant formula, according to AQSID data.
The incidents follow a string of other similar quality issues.
Chinese consumers used to find insects in US Abbott-brand infant formula, while radiation traces were detected in baby milk powder by Meiji Co because of the nuclear leakage in Japan's March 11, 2011, earthquake.
Despite all this, foreign brands continue to take the lion's share of the country's baby formula market, as Chinese dairy producers are still feeling the effects of the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal. The incident killed at least six babies and left 300,000 ill across the country.
Wang Dingmian, an expert on dairy products, said no country can give a 100-percent guarantee on the safety of milk powder products due to the intricate production procedures. But most Chinese consumers choose foreign baby formula over home products because of their relatively stable quality.
Imported infant formula accounts for 70 percent of China's baby formula market, said a report released in October by Guangdong-based CIConsulting, an industry research institution.
Rising imports
Customs data showed that China's milk powder imports rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 528,000 tons in 2011. The total value of the imports surged 20.7 percent to US$2.51 billion during the period. New Zealand, Australia and Singapore were the country's top three sources of milk powder imports last year.
For some Chinese mothers, the incidents of faulty foreign baby formula have to some extent changed their belief that the more expensive, the better the quality.
"Although I live in Inner Mongolia, the country's largest dairy production base, I still don't want to buy local milk powder because domestic producers have hurt consumer confidence," said Ma Rong, a website editor in Inner Mongolia. "Now that expensive foreign milk power products are also flawed, I wonder if there is any milk powder that is safe enough to feed my one-year-old daughter."
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