China’s food safety authority has ordered a thorough investigation into the selling of fake brand-name baby milk formula, state media reported. The order from China Food and Drug Administration came after the authorities in Shanghai arrested six people suspected of manufacturing and selling more than 17,000 tins of mislabelled baby milk powder in several provinces. Shanghai arrests six people over 17,000 tins of counterfeit baby formula Inspectors from the watchdog have been deployed in Shanghai to trace the counterfeit products, the China News Service reported on Monday. The food and drug administration has also asked the public to be cautious when buying milk powder online and ordered retailers to keep a proper record of the source of their products. The six suspects were accused of buying cheap baby formula and adult milk powder and packaging it as tins of famous brands, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in an earlier notice. It said the products were sold to retailers in cities including Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, Changsha, and Yanzhou, and then circulated to more areas, without elaborating. The notice did not indicate the amount of baby formula sold or the companies whose brands were counterfeited. The group made nearly 2 million yuan (HK$2.4 million) in the scam, according to officials. Why countries such as China pay price in lives for baby formula dependence Shanghai police requested arrest warrants for seven people in early January after receiving a tip-off. The investigation was launched in September last year, the news agency report said. It is not the first scare involving baby milk formula in China. Six young children died after 22 dairy firms were found to have added the chemical melamine to watered down milk in 2008 to make it look as if their products were high in protein.
