BEIJING (AFP) — China said Wednesday its supply of dairy products to the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics have been free of a chemical contained in milk powder that has killed three babies.
"All the food supply for the Olympics and Paralympics were safe," said Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, a watchdog.
"We took special quality management measures aimed at food supply, including dairy, for the Games," he told reporters at a briefing.
The latest scandal to hit China's food industry only went public last week but the health ministry has said two of the infant deaths occurred in May and July, before the Olympics.
But Li said the government sent out inspectors at all Olympic food suppliers two months before the Games to carry out supervision on the whole process from factory to kitchen.
Despite that, after learning about the milk powder contamination, additional tests were done.
"After melamine was found in the baby formula, we conducted immediate testing of the dairy supply for the Games, and no melamine was detected," Li said.
Health Minister Chen Zhu told the same press conference that three babies died and 6,244 had fallen ill after drinking milk powder containing melamine.
Twenty-two milk producers in China, including an Olympic sponsor, have been found to have had tainted products, according to Li.
China's food industry has been tarnished recently by a series of health scares over dangerous products, some of which have been exported.
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