Dutch govt on formula alert

The Dutch government on Wednesday ordered an investigation into persistent shortages of certain brands of baby formula, which many believed have been smuggled to China.

The Dutch food and consumer watchdog was ordered by Sharon Dijksma, deputy economic affairs minister, to probe into a huge rise in demand for baby formula linked to so-called "baby milk runners," who bulk-buy powder before sending it to China, where it is resold to parents wary of the quality of local products.

Dijksma said in the statement that Dutch officials want to gather information on bulk-buying in the Netherlands in order to inform Chinese authorities that they are getting batches of milk powder that do not conform to their regulations.

Concerns have been growing in the Netherlands, one of Europe's leading dairy exporters, about a looming national shortage of infant formula, with local newspapers quoting shoppers as saying at least two popular brands were almost impossible to find on shop shelves.

"Dutch consumers can still find baby formula, but it's getting harder and harder," Philip den Ouden, director of the Dutch Food Industry Federation, told AFP.

The country is the latest in a series of nations and regions that were hit by a growing demand for foreign milk powder in China.

Retailers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK have limited the number of cans of milk powder a customer can buy in a single day. Hong Kong, which had been previously badgered by a huge influx of baby formula buyers, kicked in a fine of HK$500,000 ($64,500) and an imprisonment of up to two years to those who leave the region with more than two cans of formula.

But none of these seems to be able to stop worrying Chinese parents who were intimidated by the 2008 scandal in which baby formula was found to be tainted with the industrial substance melamine that left six children dead and affected 300,000 others.

"My child only drinks formula bought in foreign countries like the US," a woman surnamed Zhang and mother of a 1-year-old boy told the Global Times, adding that although she acknowledges the result of a recent investigation by the China Diary Industry Association, which showed that Chinese formula has better quality than imported products.

But Zhang has had a hard time switching brands.

"The production of milk powder is so complex, you never know which step could go wrong. I just don't want to take chances," she added.

Guo Xiaoming, deputy director of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, said in an commentary published in the Global Times that officials need to adopt more diversified methods to supervise food safety during the entire production process.

"What the public need is not just stricter standard but also transparent supervision to help boost their confidence," said Guo.