China's food safety work to target baby formula

BEIJING -- Baby formula, including imported products, will be a priority for government action to improve food safety, said a document issued by the State Council on Wednesday.

According to a plan on this year's food safety operations, baby formula and supplementary food will stay on the list of commodities under close watch.

The regulator will also tighten inspection of the recipes of baby milk powders registered by manufacturers and expose malpractice.

Baby formula is a touchy food safety issue in China, haunted by a series of scandals since 2008 when infant formula produced by Sanlu Group, a leading domestic dairy firm, was found to contain melamine.

Last month, police arrested nine people allegedly involved the production and sales of fake baby formula under the brands of "Similac" and "Beingmate." About 1,000 cans of milk powder, over 20,000 empty cans and 65,000 fake trademarks were seized.

Farm produce will also be a priority, especially the use of pesticides and antibiotics, according to the document.