Chinese trigger Australian baby milk run

[skylee]

News report on Shanghai Daily -> New rules to ensure safe formula for infants

The topic of infant formula hit the headlines again recently when Hong Kong imposed a limit on the amount of baby formula people could take through customs. It was also a much discussed topic among members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference yesterday.

Exceeding the limit of milk powder for infants under the age of three years - two cans, or 1.8 kilograms - could result in fines of up to HK$500,000 (US$64,500) and even jail terms of up to two years.

On Sunday, it was reported that 45 people had been detained in Hong Kong for trying to take a total of 178 cans of baby formula and 1.2 kilograms of loose milk powder through customs. The detainees were 26 Hong Kong residents and 19 people from the mainland.

Political advisers from Macau told reporters yesterday that the special administrative region might impose its own limits on milk powder if there was a shortage of baby formula in the city.

They said residents have expressed worries that people might now travel to Macau for formula instead of Hong Kong.

[roddy]

"An official told a press conference in Beijing that 99 percent of formula produced on the mainland was safe."

Erm, so at a tin a week, for a year, your formula-fed bundle of joy has about a 1 in 2 chance of catching a non-safe batch? Way to reassure the public...

[hackinger]

Politicians should learn statistics, 99% safe would be terrible indeed. In the IT field, clients sometimes want five nines (99.999) availability, or even more nines.

I once knew statistics, but have forgotten a lot. With 50 tins a year and 99% of them safe on the average, I think the poor bundle of joy has roughly a 40% chance to get at least one non-safe batch after a year and roughly a 65% percent chance after two years.

Cheers

hackinger

[roddy]

This does appear to have become a bit of a hot topic.

[chickpea]

Here in Germany it becomes the same - I was really astonished!

[hackinger]

> Here in Germany it becomes the same - I was really astonished!

never heard of it before, but a web search "Babymilch Chinesen" really returns several German newspaper articles about that issue. Apparently Chinese buy up the stuff and bring it to China.

German consumers sometimes find empty baby milk shelves in the stores.

The Milupa baby milk factory in Fulda is working 24h a day and still cannot meet demand. Well China is a big country, but the German export machine normally copes quickly with such situations. :-)

Milupa is now part of Danone and really produces mainly for the local market not for export. Danone has factories in China in fact, according to what I read. All the exports are just done by private persons. Maybe the Chinese students in Germany found a source of income.

Edit: Holland too. (I hope the rather unfriendly comment in the "politically incorrect" article is atypical. I sympathize with Chinese parents who are worried about the quality of baby food.)

http://badcanto.word...rmula-shortage/

Cheers

hackinger

[Guest realmayo]

UK update for Milkwatch:

Retailers in the UK are rationing sales of powdered baby milk, because of a surge in demand for foreign-made baby milk in China. Danone, the manufacturer of Aptamil and Cow and Gate baby milk powder, said most retailers were introducing a limit of two cans per customer.

It said the limit was to prevent some individuals from bulk-buying baby milk for "unofficial exports".

http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-22066243

[roddy]

Update from the UK. They've missed the obvious solution though - print the Chinese characters 三鹿 on the side. British consumers will assume it indicates the presence of some beneficial Chinese herb, while Chinese consumers won't touch the stuff with a long stick.

[roddy]

Oh, realmayo, you sneaky little...

[Guest realmayo]

Scooped!

(tee-hee)

[xiaocai]

And now?

As for Australia, so far I've only read it on paper, no one has complained whatsoever in real life to me or people I know. So no comment.

[skylee]

Contaminated milk from NZ - Baby milk recalled amid botulism scare

Cow&Gate said it was informed about a potential problem at the weekend by the New Zealand dairy exporter, Fonterra.

The alert came after it was found that drinks and baby formula containing products made by Fonterra were contaminated with bacteria that could cause botulism. China and other countries have banned imports of the affected products.

Fonterra's chief executive, Theo Spierings, apologised for the contamination, but denied accusations that his firm had delayed releasing information.

[skylee]

Some update. I read this on the newspaper today.