More Chinese Milk Products Banned in Burma

By KYI WAI

RANGOON – Burma’s military regime issued an order yesterday banning more Chinese dairy products found to be contaminated with the toxic industrial chemical melamine.

Under order 42/2008, issued on October 13, the following products have been banned: Golden River Full Cream Milk Powder, Butterfly Calcium Milk Powder, Yu Li Full Cream Milk Powder, Sweet Whey Powder, Non-Dairy Cream (Korea), Non-Dairy Cream (China) and Elfalac A+.

The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Industry 1 announced that they would continue to inspect dairy products for melamine contamination and release their findings when they become available.

It was unclear, however, whether the regime’s announcement would do much to protect consumers who use repackaged milk powder sold in small plastic bags for around 100 kyat (US$ 0.08).

A source at the Nyaungbinlay wholesale market in Rangoon said that milk powder from China is often repackaged in this way to make it more affordable—and to make it easier to sell milk powder that has already passed its expiry date.

“I can’t afford to buy branded milk powder, and the (repackaged) milk powder costs just 100 kyat,” said a mother in Rangoon’s Thaketha Township. “I have been using it for over 6 months, and now I am worried that it may have harmed my child.”

“Poor families in our country often mix condensed milk with cheap milk powder from China to feed babies,” said an official from the Food and Drug Authority (FDA).

“We also need to check instant coffee, biscuits, chocolates, candy, ice cream and yogurt, because they often contain Chinese milk powder as an ingredient,” he added.

On October 9, the state-run press identified nine dairy products found to be contaminated with melamine and deemed unfit for human consumption.

An FDA official said that the authorities destroyed 16 tonnes of milk powder produced by the Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group on October 4.