Food safety concerns are resurfacing in China after piglets in five farms in southwest parts of the country were confirmed to have been fed milk powder contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and tan leather.

According to a report by Xinhua News, the farms used 515 times more tainted milk powder than the legal limit.

In 2008, melamine-laced powder killed about six babies and sickened 300,000 people with kidney stones in China.

A middleman, identified by the surname Tang, bought about 6.7 tons of contaminated powder cheaply and sold it to animal feed retailers in the region.
Police launched an investigation after city inspectors of Chongqing found melamine in the animal feed last October.

Police arrested both the retailers and middleman.

Farmers say they stopped feeding the tainted food to pigs when they showed symptoms of diarrhea, but consumers show worries over whether the meat from the pigs has been sold on the market.

Following the 2008 scandal, Chinese authorities proposed strict restrictions on the milk powder, but consumers have continued to avoid buying the country’s dairy products.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)