MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China announces overhaul of dairy industry safety

China announced a complete overhaul of its dairy industry Thursday to improve safety at every step, from cow breeding to milk sales, admitting its worst food quality scandal in years had revealed “major problems” in quality control.

Changes will be made within the next year in production, purchasing, processing and sales, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. "The crisis has put China's dairy industry in peril and exposed major problems existing in the quality control and supervision of the industry," it quoted an official at China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, as saying. China's Ministry of Health said on Thursday that 1.041 infants around China were still receiving hospital treatment for kidney damage caused by tainted powdered milk. The number of hospitalized infants dropped by more than half from three weeks ago, when the figure stood at 2,300. Another 50,741 infants have recovered and have been discharged since mid-September, when a scandal erupted over milk containing a chemical, melamine, added the Ministry. The State Council, China's Cabinet, said the Health Ministry will issue new quality and safety standards for dairy products, while the Agriculture Ministry will draft inspection standards for melamine and other toxins in animal feed. The flow and delivery of dairy products will also be tracked, it said in a statement. The breadth and speed of the proposed changes echo actions taken last year, when a slew of Chinese exports â€" from toothpaste to toys â€" were found to contain high levels of potentially deadly chemicals. After an initial unwillingness to acknowledge problems, authorities threw themselves into a campaign to protect export industries and bolster the country's reputation as the world's manufacturing base. The government formed a Cabinet-level panel to oversee product quality and food safety, implemented a national food recall system, and announced increased random inspections, closures of unlicensed manufacturers and restaurants, and large-scale seizures of substandard goods. The government plans to tighten regulation of milk collection stations, where dairy farmers sell their raw milk, the National Development and Reform Commission said.