China's quality chief resigns over toxic baby-milk scandal

23 September 2008

Over the last week, China has been battling the worst childcare crisis of recent times - the tainted milk scandal. After the number of affected children crossed the 50,000 mark and the death toll crossed four, the highest official till date has fallen victim to the fallout.

Although several minor characters involved in this fiasco had earlier been arrested, the resignation of the head of the country's quality watchdog marks the highest-profile casualty of the scandal till date. Additionally, the crisis has reached international proportions with Chinese-made dairy products in other nations also reportedly affected. (See: Toxic milk scandal leads to arrests in China)

Li Changjiang resigned after seven years as chief of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the official Xinhua News Agency said today. Premier Wen Jiabao has ordered an overhaul of the dairy industry after products of 22 companies were found to contain melamine.

"What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods," Wen Jiabao said on a visit to hospitals in Beijing. "Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry."

Li's agency is responsible for ensuring that China's food supply chain is safe. Monday's resignation came hours after the World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain. The chemical melamine blamed for causing kidney stones and kidney failure has been detected in formula milk powder from dairies across China.

As the effects of the scandal continued to ripple across the world, health authorities said 12,892 children had been hospitalised, of which 104 were in a serious condition with kidney failure. Another 39,965 children had received outpatient "clinical treatment and advice" after being taken to clinics by their parents. 80 per cent of those who had fallen sick were under two, and virtually all under three.