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BEIJING: China warned on Tuesday of a continued "grim" food safety outlook following the re-emergence of a tainted milk scandal and called for strengthened efforts nationwide to contain the threat.
The order by a Cabinet-level food safety committee marked the first high-level government response to revelations that tainted milk powder that was supposed to have been destroyed after a 2008 scandal had reappeared in stores.
In the 2008 health scare, milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine led to the deaths of six babies and sickened 300,000 others who had been fed baby formula made from the tainted dairy.
State television said a meeting of the Cabinet committee chaired by Vice-Premier Li Keqiang ordered the government to "adopt effective measures to firmly strike down all kinds of dangerous conduct in the food safety sphere."
"Overall, our food safety is stable but the foundation remains fragile and the situation is still grim," it quoted Li as saying during the meeting.
State media reports on Monday said authorities were hunting for nearly 100 tonnes of tainted milk powder that should have been destroyed earlier.
The powder has found its way back onto the market, casting new doubts on China's scandal-prone food industry more than a year after the authorities had declared the 2008 milk threat over.
The report by China Central Television quoted Li as referring directly to the new dairy scare but giving no further information on the scale of the problem.
He ordered authorities nationwide to strengthen food monitoring systems and "sternly pursue and root out harmful actions."
A string of recent reports in Chinese media have shown tainted milk powder was being found across the country, with a number of firms shut down and several people arrested. - AFP/de
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