Macau, China, 22 Sept – Around 10,000 nursery and primary school students in Chinese schools in Macau will undergo medical tests as of today to check for contamination by the melamine in milk products distributed to educational facilities, according to a report in the Tribuna de Macau newspaper.
The paper, which cited the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, said that two packets of “Yili” branded milk – a one litre package and a 250 gram package – were part of the Bureau’s “Milk Plan” for 2007/2008.
The plan for 2008 was immediately suspended after it became publicly known that some “Yili” milk was contaminated.
The paper reported that, “tests on students that had contact with the products will be carried out, on an initial level, by school doctors but, if they don’t have this type of staff, the Health Services will provide a doctor and a nurse for each school.”
The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau believes that no children are likely to have been affected as no case of contamination had been detected and given the levels of melamine found in the affected product, the amount of milk given to the pupils would not be enough to exceed levels considered to be safe.”
Macau’s Health Services said Friday that they had not detected any cases of melamine contamination in milk products in the territory.
Macau’s Economic Service ordered retail outlets to remove “Yili” Mengniu and Guangming milk products from their shelves, in line with orders from the National Quality Control Service.
Melamine – a chemical product used to manufacture plastic – is the same chemical detected in a powdered milk brand manufactured in mainland China that has so far poisoned 6,200 babies and killed four, the first of which in May, from kidney stones.
(MacauNews)
