China steps up melamine containment efforts
The US-based mass spectrometry systems firm said that the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and two dairy manufacturers, Shanxi Gucheng and Yashili Dairy Company, recently deployed five of its API 3200 mass spectrometry systems for the scanning, identification and measurement of the quantity of various food contaminants.
“These systems deliver high sensitivity, selectivity, high speed and reliability of results in laboratory analysis, enabling rapid detection and ultimately stronger enforcement of food safety regulations,” claims Applied Biosystems.
The Chinese melamine scandal first hit headlines when tens of thousands of children were sickened and four killed after the chemical, normally found in plastics, was used to make watered down infant formula appear richer in protein.
The chemical is known to cause renal and urinary problems in humans and animals; therefore, its use in food production is universally banned.
Political impetus
Meanwhile, consumer safety heads of the EU, US and China signed a revised memorandum of understanding on product and food safety last month at a high-level summit that reinforced the political importance of safety.
The summit, held in Brussels, was intended to send a strong message of political commitment to safety and keeping global supply chains secure.
It was attended by Meglena Kuneva, the EU Consumer Commissioner, Nancy Nord, US chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission; and Wei Chuanzhong, China’s vice minister of AQSIQ.
Globalisation
A previous memorandum of understanding was signed in 2006; however safety has been a recurring topic since the melamine scandal.
Although the gravest impact of the melamine contamination was felt in China, globalisation of the food supply chain has meant that products containing milk-derived ingredients have been withdrawn all over the world.
The renewed memorandum gives China access to the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Raffs), the mechanism in place since 1979 by which it exchanges information with control authorities on food safety measures.
