Official: Russia has no melamine victims

MOSCOW, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Russians have avoided illness by not consuming Chinese milk products containing the chemical melamine, a Russian official says.

Gennady Onishchenko, Rospotrebnadzor Federal Service for Supervision of Consumers Protection and Welfare chief, said whil tens of thousands of children in China have fallen ill allegedly due to contaminated powered-milk products, no Russians are among the ailing, ITAR-TASS reported Friday.

"There have been no reports on Russians suffering from melamine, a toxic substance detected in Chinese food; we're monitoring the situation," Onishchenko said.

The Russian official suggested his country should employ a 1950s strategy of hanging posters reminding consumers of the potential dangers of Chinese products.

"It's necessary to produce reprints and hang them out ubiquitously. Incidentally, the first batch of Chinese products containing melamine was withdrawn from sale thanks to buyers," the consumer official said.

ITAR-TASS said melamine found in Chinese milk products such as infant formula have been blamed for causing more than 53,000 children in China to be diagnosed with medical problems, including kidney stones.