Philippines finds melamine in Chinese milk products

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III identified the brands Friday as Mengniu and Yili, which have already been found to be contaminated in tests in China.

Duque said the 28 other products that include M&M chocolate candies, powdered milk and yogurt have been cleared for sale and 200 more were being tested. Additional results may be released early next week.

The Philippine government halted the importation and sale of Chinese milk products pending inspections last week after melamine-tainted milk was blamed for four deaths and kidney stones and other illnesses in 54,000 children in China.

Philippine Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the government’s action was meant to protect the public and should not ruffle ties with China, one of the country’s main trading partners. “Conducting due diligence to protect the consumer is never an overreaction. We’d rather overreact than underreact because it’s the health and safety of the consumers that are paramount,” he said.

Duque said one large supermarket has been charged for violating the ban and authorities were inspecting another.

Duque said he has ordered hospitals to report children with renal problems who may have been drinking milk from China, but that none has been reported so far.

The new regulations require exporters from such countries as Australia and New Zealand to disclose where their milk came from before shipping to the Philippines. If an exporter fails to make a full disclosure, officials will assume the product came from China and ban it, Duque said.

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