Lax standard charges for Chinese baby formula false  

卫生部官员否认中国三聚氰胺标准比国际宽松

中国卫生部新闻发言人邓海华9日在北京强调，中国食品中三聚氰胺的限量规定与国际食品法典的标准规定是一致的。

Beijing (CNS) -- The Ministry of Health through its spokesman Deng Haihua, asserted once more on Monday that China's national standard for the maximum limit of melamine content in baby milk formula is actually in line with the internationally accepted level.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United Nations food standards body, has set a maximum melamine level of 0.15 mg per kilogram for infant liquid milk formula, according to a news release posted Wednesday on the website of the World Health Organization (WHO).

For China, the maximum limit of melamine in baby food formula is 1mg per kilogram, thus the intensive media coverage claiming the Chinese standard is much laxer than the international one.

The allegation results from a misinterpretation of the original report provided by the WHO, said Deng.

The Ministry of Health explained on Friday that the new international standard is for liquid milk products while China's is for powdered formula. It said it is an international practice to dilute powdered formula by seven times the quantity of water, so 0.15 mg/kg for liquid is about the same as 1 mg/kg for powder products.