The Asian country of China is gearing up to increase checks on the infant formula milk producers, in order to eliminate the ones below standard. The government of China released a statement on June 20, 2013, saying that the China Food and Drug Administration will be consulting the Good Manufacturing Practices certification system which is used by the drug producers in order to improve the standards of milk formula production.
The statement from the government added that the companies who are found guilty of producing substandard products with substandard technology and equipment will be shut down. In 2011, it was found that many companies were producing substandard milk formulas, after which the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine decided to shut down about 475 milk enterprises.
At the moment, China has 127 infant formula milk producers, which manufacture about 600,000 tons of the product in 2012. Meanwhile, the demand for infant formula is increasing in the country, but confidence in domestic products was seriously shaken after the huge scandal in 2008, when six infants were killed and 300,000 fell sick due to melamine tainting.
After the scandal, the demand for the infant formula milk fell drastically.
