Recent testing activity in China follows a case in which 12 tonnes of yogurt sweets were found to be contaminated with melamine in the southern province of Guangdong. The manager of the factory involved has been detained.
This follows a previous scandal in China in 2008, where at least six children died and nearly 300,000 fell ill after consuming powdered milk laced with melamine, which can be added to low quality or diluted milk to fool inspectors checking for protein levels.
Experts from the Glasgow-based company will travel to Germany next month to meet and help train a Chinese delegation in the methodology for testing a range of contaminants and additives, including vitamins in milk products.
“Our meetings with the Chinese delegation will be very important for us to strengthen and build our position in this growing market,” said marketing manager Carol Donnelly. “The Chinese are quite conscious of the adverse publicity surrounding food contamination scandals and there is increasing concern about the quality of local products. European brands of milk are seen as safer, due to more stringent testing and there is a move towards the use of European test kits and methods in order to help reduce the risk to the consumer in China.”
Its team will meet with influential scientists in the sphere of transferring knowledge on methods and test kits to Chinese laboratories.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024