Product from Mengniu's Meishan plant was found to contain Aflatoxin M1 at levels 140 percent higher than the national safety standard limit.
(Ecns.cn)--Mengniu, a giant in the Chinese dairy industry and a culprit in the 2008 melamine scandal, has been caught up in another poisonous milk scandal. This newly emerging food safety fiasco has touched fragile nerves in China and provoked fury nation-wide.
Product from Mengniu's Meishan plant was found to contain Aflatoxin M1 at levels 140 percent higher than the national safety standard limit, according to a proclamation by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on December 24.
Shame of the nation
Aflatoxin M1 finds it way into milk via dairy cattle feed, industry expert Wang Dingmian explained to Beijing News on December 25. The intake of small amounts of Aflatoxin M1 at each feeding will slowly accumulate in the human body and become classifiable as a carcinogenic substance.
The Hong Kong stock market closed trading on December 26 and 27, so Mengniu's H shares temporarily avoided a plunge, but still plummeted in the following days. On December 29, Mengniu Dairy (02319.HK) closed at almost 24 percent down (HK$15.64), and its market value decreased to a level just above HK$11 billion.
A hacker team calling itself Simple International Infosec Team hacked Mengniu's website at about 11 p.m. on December 28, crashing it and putting up a black screen with fourteen lines of text condemning Mengniu; this state lasted for over an hour.
The team pointed out "the national shame," disappointment and distress of the Chinese public they claimed to speak for, saying "we are family, but you poison us…on behalf of millions of netizens, we make the move to wake you up, wake the whole nation up."
Response from Mengniu
Facing the test results for the tainted milk, Mengniu apologized to consumers and clarified that all products found to be flawed had been destroyed in the warehouse before distribution, reported Beijing News on December 25. And it explained that Aflatoxin M1 at these high levels is caused by mildewed feed.
"The current batch of products are still going through testing procedures and will be certified safe before sale," says Lu Jianjun, vice chairman of Mengniu, "Even without the testing by AQSIQ, we can detect problems on our own, and this ability reflects Mengniu's effective management; we are ensuring all products out of our factory are certified safe."
However, Mengniu's can't assume they will win any forgiveness from the public with their excuses, nor regain the confidence of experts. "This event reflects Mengniu's incompetence at production and quality control," says Dr. Yun Wuxin who specializes in the food industry, "No matter which areas the causes lie in, Mengniu is inescapably responsible."
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