Official denies low standards for milk

China's regulations concerning melamine content are not looser than the United Nation standard, Beijing Times reported Friday, citing an unnamed official from the Ministry of Health.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, jointly run by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, has now set a maximum limit of 0.15 mg per kg for melamine in liquid infant milk, according to WHO's website on July 4.

The new regulation has aroused widespread concerns that China's standard is 16 times looser than the UN standard as China's Ministry of Health has adopted a maximum melamine level of 1 mg per kg for infant formula products and of 2.5 mg per kg for other foods since the melamine scandal in 2008.

However, dairy expert Wang Jingmian told Beijing times that the two standards are not directly comparable because the 0.15 mg per kg limit applies to melamine contents in "liquid milk", while 1 mg per kg applies to "infant formula foods".

The official cited by the Beijing Times explained that infant formula foods in the Chinese regulation refer to milk power.

The two standards will be the same if a shift is made between liquid milk and milk power.

Two years ago, the Codex Commission adopted a maximum melamine level of 1 mg per kg for powdered infant formula and of 2.5 mg per kg for other foods and animal feed, according to WHO's website.

Melamine can be lethal at high concentrations and has been used illegally to increase apparent protein content in food products including infant formula and milk powder

.Infant formula products tainted with melamine caused death and illness in infants in 2008 in China.