70% of Chinese Consumers Avoid Local Milk: Beijing Times

Chinese consumers are losing confidence in locally produced milk after a series of safety concerns. A recent survey found 70% of consumers would not purchase milk powder produced in China, according to the Beijing Times.

One consumer in northeastern China tells NTD they are scared of domestic milk.

[Chinese consumer]:
“I don’t even buy fresh milk in pouches for my child. China’s milk powder is really scary. My friends tell me milk in pouch containers doesn’t even contain milk. So I don’t give it to my child.”

The main concern about milk in China is when toxic substances are illegally added to milk products to boost the appearance of their protein content. In 2008, melamine was widely detected in infant formula. At least six infants died from the toxic milk. In 2009, a toxic substance extracted from leather scraps, hydrolyzed leather protein was also found in Chinese milk.

Now many consumers have turned to imported products.

[Ms. Jing, Shanghai Resident]:
“My relative’s daughter drinks imported milk powder. They never have domestic milk, because there’s a lot of poor quality milk powder here. My relative works at the dairy company Yili, and knows what goes on in the production process.”

The Chinese regime’s Ministry of Agriculture announced local authorities will carry out thousands of random checks on fresh milk this year. But the safety scandals have already dealt a heavy blow to the domestic industry. China is now the largest market for infant formula, with imports of the product nearly doubling in 2010 to estimated 340-thousand tons.