China tries to reassure public over milk scare

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BEIJING, Sept 27 (AFP): China Saturday scrambled to reassure the public over a toxic milk scandal, announcing that nearly 50 Chinese brands which had been tested contained no melamine.
The government said it had tested 47 brands of milk and yoghurt and detected no trace of melamine, the industrial chemical discovered in baby milk powder that has sickened 53,000 children and killed four so far.
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision checked 296 batches of dairy products from the brands across the country's major cities, an official at the agency confirmed to AFP on Saturday.
"No melamine was detected," the agency said on its website.
The test was good news for China, which has sought to contain a scandal that has had global repercussions, with countries and regions around the world rushing to ban or restrict its milk products.
The European Union on Friday decided to stop all imports of baby food containing traces of milk from China, and Hong Kong ordered a recall of two products found to contain melamine, including a brand of Heinz baby food.
Japan meanwhile has ordered firms which import dairy products from China to test them for melamine after the chemical -- which is normally used to make plastics -- was found in four items made by one of its leading food makers.