Opinion

For safe milk

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-19 17:08

Scared by crowds of bulk milk buyers and speculators from the Chinese mainland during the Spring Festival holiday, some retailers in Macao have reportedly imposed quotas to ensure that local milk supply is not affected.

Similar worries are spreading in Hong Kong, where some brands of milk powder went out of stock during the holiday.

We are sorry for our fellow nationals in Macao and Hong Kong whose daily milk supply was disrupted. We are sorry for the fathers and mothers on the mainland, too, who may lose a convenient source of safer and more reasonably priced milk supply for their children.

It would be sad to see parents travel far in the future to find safe milk for their children. It would be sadder if this problem continues to plague mainland bulk buyers and Macao and Hong Kong residents.

We can only hope that dairy product makers, quality watchdogs and market regulators no longer think that solving the problem is others' business. If they choose to look the other way, like before, the already unfolding credibility crisis of the domestic dairy industry and the authorities will only deepen. Shame on them if they remain indifferent.

The Ministry of Agriculture's recent statement on "leather milk" - milk added with protein hydrolysate derived from leather wastes to boost protein content - best describes the dairy market. The ministry's statement was aimed at reassuring consumers that reports on "leather milk" making a "comeback" were not true. Fresh milk sold in the domestic market last year was "generally good", the ministry said.

But the fact that protein hydrolysate, like melamine in 2008, has become a main substance in dairy product quality control examinations is creating new ripples of suspicion in consumers' minds. After all, "leather milk" was detected years ago. And it is possible that the severe crackdown on melamine-tainted milk products has driven some unscrupulous dairy product makers back to protein hydrolysate.

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Ministry of Agriculture sources have said that making protein hydrolysate an item in milk quality examination does not mean it exists in dairy products. But some consumers say that non-detection of protein hydrolysate in milk does not necessarily mean all milk products are free of it. The whole thing is now about trust.

Through repeated violations over the years, the domestic dairy industry has dealt a severe blow to its own credibility. The authorities, trapped between the need to clean up the dairy market and concerns about preventing a national industry from collapsing, have appeared ineffective in making true their promises of ensuring safety.

But consumers cannot be fooled forever. They are now voting by foot. The average parents just want safe milk for their babies.

It would be in the majority's fundamental interest if all dishonest companies perished.