BEIJING, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- China, which had a tainted infant-formula scandal two years ago, says the safety of its baby formula has been threatened by U.S. and other foreign dairy goods.
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, a government department in charge of food safety, said the United States, France, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan shipped 402 tons of unsafe dairy products to China.
The products were returned or destroyed by China in June, the agency said.
Of the 402 tons, 401 tons, or 99.8 percent of the total, were baby formula, the agency said.
The accused countries had no immediate response.
June's tainted dairy products far outstripped April's 22 tons and May's 27 tons returned or destroyed by China, the agency said.
The tainted daily products included formula infected with enterobacter sakazakii, a pathogenic bacterium that can cause death in infants, the agency said in a report.
Other problem dairy products contained excessive levels of nitrites and zinc and a disproportionately high total bacterial count, the agency said.
China's 2008 Chinese milk scandal, which broke July 16, involved milk and infant formula adulterated with melamine.
Melamine is an organic chemical widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware and whiteboards.
By November 2008 China reported more than 300,000 victims, with six infants dying and 860 other babies hospitalized.
Investigators said the chemical appeared to have been added to watered-down milk to increase its volume and to make it appear to have an enriched protein content. Adding melamine increased the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its apparent protein content.
As of this past July, authorities still found melamine-contaminated dairy products in some provinces, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
