Officials Warn Consumers of Chinese Goods
Authorities warned Cambodians to avoid Chinese products made with potentially tainted milk, as they sought to remove some items from sh
Cambodia'snational customs authority on Thursday warned citizens to avoid food products imported from China,pending tests for the dangerous chemical melamine, which has been found in anumber of Chinese products, including milk powder. The warning comes as the authority, CamControl, was bolsteringefforts to monitor imports from Chinain local markets nationwide, including pulling severalproducts from shelves. Around 30 countries worldwide have begun recallingproducts made with Chinese milk powder, suspected to becontaminated with melamine, a chemical potentially fatal for children. At least four Chinese babies have died after ingestingmelamine-laced milk products and 54,000 have been sickened, the AssociatedPress reported Thursday. Singaporean officials found melamine traces in three Chineseproducts Thursday, including Cadbury candies, AP reported. CamControl pulled some products from PhnomPenh markets on Wednesday, including nearly 20,000 packages ofWhite Rabbit sweets, said Khlauk Choun, deputysecretary-general of the agency. "I've asked all levels of people, be careful not to eatexport products from China,which are suspected of containing melamine," he said. "And I've distributedsamples of the products that have melamine in them." CamControl officials have gone to markets around the countryposting examples of milk powder and other products as warnings to vendors andshoppers. "We cannot find out whether the [tainted] Chinese milkpowder has come into Cambodiayet," he said. "But some products that are suspected, like Chinese milkproducts, ice cream, chocolate, cake, or candy, including the popular ChineseWhite Rabbit, we seized all of these products from stalls and from markets fortesting." CamControl was "very concerned" that tainted Chinese milkpowder could be re-labeled in Chinaand exported to Cambodia. "We aren't discriminating against Chinese food products," hesaid, but the authorities were following a "risk profile" of potentiallydangerous products. "We are more focused on the food product from China thanbefore," he said. "We regard this as a priority."