Customer confidence in dairy products may sink to new lows despite Mengniu Dairy Group, one of China's leading milk producers, apologizing after some of its products were found to contain excessive amounts of a known carcinogen.
A recent sample check by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) detected 1.2 micrograms per kilogram of Aflatoxin M1 in pure milk products made on October 18 by Mengniu's Meishan branch in Sichuan Province.
The amount more than was twice the allowed maximum of 0.5 micrograms per kilogram.
"The problem was found before the products reached the market. The company has immediately sealed up and destroyed all the products," Mengniu said in a statement Sunday, pledging to intensify supervision and management on food safety.
A customer service operator with Mengniu told the Global Times Monday that the problem was caused by feeding mildewed and rotten forage to cattle.
However, Mengniu's statement failed to quiet public anger.
"An apology makes no difference. I will not choose Mengniu anymore," Li Ying, 28, an employee in a law firm in Beijing, told the Global Times.
"I am truly shocked and worried at the news. I just drank a box of milk from Mengniu. How could they make such a big mistake?" said Li, who is seven months pregnant.
"I wonder if there is any lawyer who plans to sue Mengniu. If so, I will support them unconditionally," Yu Jianrong, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Monday on his Sina microblog.
This is not the first time Mengniu has been involved in a safety scandal.
Last April, 251 pupils in a primary school in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, fell ill after drinking Mengniu milk for breakfast, but local authorities later ruled out the milk as the cause.
In late 2008, many dairy firms, including Mengniu, Yili Group and Bright Dairy, were exposed as making melamine-tainted infant formula. At least six children were killed and about 300,000 others fell ill. This already sent customer confidence in national dairy giants plummeting.
Aflatoxin is an extremely toxic and carcinogenic fungus that can cause liver damage. Its traces are strictly restricted in grains that are used to make feed and food.
"Aflatoxin comes from stale feed given to dairy cows. Its residue will accumulate in the cattle's body and enter its blood and milk," Wang Dingmian, chairman of the Guangzhou Dairy Industry Association, told the Global Times.
The substance may develop in grains or feed when they are not stored in proper conditions, Wang said, adding that the grains used to make feed might be mildewed or have rotted after being kept too long.
"Any milk producer should take major responsibility for such problems as they failed to weed out those problematic raw materials collected from dairy farmers. It is a human error."
The impact of the latest scandal has already hit the stock market. Many dairy shares suffered slumps Monday. Yili saw its shares slide 5.36 percent to 19.79 yuan while Bright Dairy shares dropped by 3.95 percent Monday.
Mengniu, listed on the Hong Kong stock market, which is closed Monday and today for public holidays, will hardly escape a slump when the market resumes, Caixin reported, quoting stock analysts.
"The whole industry shall be alerted and take action to make corrections. Otherwise, the national dairy products will suffer another massive sharp drop in sales," Wang warned.
Separately, another debate on media coverage of the scandal became heated online.
Caijing Magazine said on its microblog on Sunday that Baidu censored the scandal as no related news were shown when searches for "Mengniu" were made around 7 pm.
Baidu denied the claims, saying it never artificially intervenes with search results unless these flout national laws and policies.
Zhan Jiang, a professor from the School of International Journalism and Communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University, wrote on his microblog Monday that any media ignoring the scandal were yielding to advertising revenues.
Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor with Peking University, said the public debate over the issue reflected consumers' dropping confidence in the credibility of dairy enterprises.
Yang Jinghao contributed to this story
