Melamine in Milk Continues to Plague China

Police in China have arrested 96 people for using melamine-tainted milk powder to produce dairy products, Reuters reported today. Seventeen people of those arrested have been convicted, including two people who have been sentenced to life in prison. Thirty-eight are still awaiting trial.

The scandal over melamine in milk products erupted in China in 2008. According to Reuters, the problem persists. “Last July, samples of milk powder found in northwest China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces had levels of melamine up to 500 times the permitted limit, underscoring the lax enforcement of food safety in the country,” it reports.

Thus far, Chinese officials have seized 2,132 tons of melamine-tained milk powder.