Dairy giants apologize for scandal

Top managers of the country's three leading dairy companies - Mengniu, Yili and Bright Dairy - issued their first public apology yesterday for their companies' involvement in the ongoing contaminated milk scandal.

During a talk show program, Dialogue, broadcast last night on the economic channel of China Central Television, executives of the three companies admitted to "the problems and mistakes" of their firms.

Their apology came one month after the surfacing of the scandal involving tainted milk products from dairy giant Sanlu Group, in which melamine-contaminated baby formula had sickened thousands of infants nationwide with kidney-related illnesses.