Anger as axed product is found on sale
A tainted milk product blacklisted by the central government is still being sold in at least one supermarket in Guangzhou as a promotional item, it was revealed yesterday.
Staff at the supermarket removed the product from the shelves on Friday after some customers complained. But they found the same product on sale the next day when they returned to the supermarket.
The angry customers complained yesterday to a local newspaper, the Yangcheng Evening News.
'In the first case they could blame it on their staff workers' carelessness. But what about the second time?' said one customer. 'The most ridiculous part is that right next to the shelf of these milk products, there is a government notice warning people not to buy them.'
The product in question was a batch of Mengniu high-calcium low-fat milk, which was tested earlier by the authorities and found to contain the industrial chemical melamine. The mainland's market watchdog subsequently ordered the product to be taken off the shelves.
Sales of mainland-made milk products have collapsed in the wake of the snowballing scandal.
To win customers back, the country's major dairy companies, including Mengniu and Yili, launched nationwide sales promotion campaigns last week during the week-long National Day holiday, offering customers 'buy one, get one free' deals.
In cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the promotion drive was a huge success and many products sold out within the first hour, local media reported.
But the Yangcheng Evening News said yesterday that in at least one supermarket in Guangzhou, customers found tainted Mengniu milk products had been used.
A shopper at a CRVanguard supermarket in Guangzhou found some products he bought in the promotion on Friday were from the batch that had been banned by the authorities.
He complained to the supermarket and an employee promised that the contaminated milk products would be removed from the shelves. But he said they were still on sale when he went back the next day.
The supermarket insisted yesterday that it was just a careless mistake by staff. But it refused to explain why tainted products had been put back on sale.
Last Wednesday, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce promised the public that all melamine-tainted milk products would be taken off the shelves.
The latest incident has again shaken customers' faith in domestic milk brands.
'Is it safe now to drink the milk? I bought two boxes of Yili milk. I'm a little afraid ... but drinking milk has become a daily habit to me,' someone said in an online chat room.
Some have simply given up worrying. 'Too many foods have been found to be tainted. I've decided not to care anymore. Let's buy milk, at least while it is still cheap,' another said.
