Sri Lanka decided to take action after Chinese children fallen ill

Minister in charge of consumer affairs and internal trade, Bandula Gunawardene, told media on Friday that no incident related to contaminated milk powder reported in Sri Lanka.

However, the government decided to take action after four babies have died and more than six-thousand children have fallen ill in China as a result of the contamination of powdered milk, he said.

Chinese children

The minister said that the company that is responsible for contamination in China is also the supplier of milk powder for many popular brands of milk powder in Sri Lanka.

Minister Gunawardene added that all varieties of milk powder available in the market were not subjected to a proper standardisation.

Shops and supermarkets across China have been withdrawing dairy products after the revelation that liquid milk has been contaminated in addition to powdered baby milk.

The government quality watchdog said nearly ten per cent of milk samples taken in recent days from leading Chinese dairies contained the industrial chemical melamine, which makes protein content appear higher.