Inspectors take imported powder milk samples from Hanoi Milk Joint Stock Company (Hanoimilk) Wednesday

More milk products of dubious origin have been uncovered as inspections of dairy products continue across Vietnam, in the wake of the tainted milk scandal in China which as killed four infants.

In Hanoi, an inspection team led by Health Ministry Deputy Chief Inspector Do Duc Nhuong conducted a spot check at Hanoi Milk Joint Stock Company (Hanoimilk) and ordered the company to withhold 280 tons of imported Chinese powdered milk until the results of test samples are known.

Hanoimilk had imported 375 tons of powered milk from China’s Longcom Enterprise Ltd. and had already sold 95 tons to two companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Hanoimilk said it had been granted a quality standard certificate for the imported milk by Vietnam’s Food Hygiene Safety Bureau.

Nhuong said although Longcom was not on the blacklist of 22 Chinese dairy firms that had sold melamine-contaminated products, inspectors would still examine Hanoimilk’s imported powered milk.

Of the 280 tons of powdered milk in Hanoimilk’s warehouse, 180 tons will expire in early 2009 while the expiry date on the remainder is this month.

In Ho Chi Minh City, inspections by market management forces unearthed 6.6 tons of foreign milk materials of dubious origin.

Some 5.3 tons of imported milk materials without labels or origins from Duc Long Hang Enterprise in District 6, along with 1.3 tons of milk materials from Mai Tram Company in Go Vap District were sealed waiting for further tests.

The HCMC Department of Health said Wednesday that samples from milk imported from Inner Mongolia’s YiLi Industrial Group were found to have much higher levels of melamine than reported by local importer Kim An Company.

Kim An Company had said results from examinations done by an affiliate of the city’s Department of Science and Technology revealed a melamine concentration of 25.34 micrograms per liter.

According to the World Health Organization, no national or international authority has approved melamine for human consumption.

The chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

Kim An Company said it had recalled all the YiLi milk it had distributed but 321 one-liter tins of milk had already been sold.

In a dispatch sent to the city’s Department of Education and Training Wednesday, the Department of Health called for milk products supplied to city schools to be monitored more strictly.

Health officials in the central city of Da Nang are urgently investigating local milk businesses.

More Ensure products without Vietnamese usage-guidance labels have been discovered and around 100 large cans recalled.

By Wednesday, 14 small traders had been penalized for trading milk without labels or of dubious origin.

Earlier investigations on AC Food low-quality milk revealed that 60 cartons of the product had been sold to Da Nang but the cartons have not yet been found.

Wednesday, the Health Department and the market management agency of central Thua Thien-Hue city Province launched inspections of milk products, including milk, ice-cream, cakes and sweets sold locally at Dong Ba and An Cuu markets and in Hue Town.

Unofficial information said many milk products from China and those with unclear origin had been sold in the province previously but such products appear to have now disappeared from shop shelves.

Meanwhile, the Health Department asked district offices to issue warnings about tainted Chinese milk and milk products without clear origin labels.

Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang Wednesday said all milk imported to Vietnam from China must be checked for toxic substances before being used.

Before the tainted milk scandal broke, milk products from 109 Chinese milk companies had been imported to Vietnam.

“Any other milk found with melamine contamination will be seized and destroyed,” Quang said.

“Those that pass the checks will be allowed to be sold in Vietnam.”

Quang said even milk products bearing melamine-free certificates would be subject to spot checks for the chemical.

At the sideline of a meeting with the Central Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene Wednesday, Quang said there should be stricter regulations on importing milk.

“The Health Ministry had requested the Vietnam Food Administration and concerned authorities to modify regulations relating to licenses issued to imported milk,” he said.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff