Food safety still an issuefor cautious consumers

BEIJING - A senior agricultural official said on Saturday the country's milk products were "trustworthy", although it would take time to restore consumer confidence in domestic brands.

"Over the past few years, tests on melamine (in milk products) have registered a 100 percent pass rate, meaning there has been no melamine added," said Vice-Minister of Agriculture Wei Chao'an. "Neither have we detected leather hydrolyzed protein in milk products."

Both melamine and leather hydrolyzed protein are banned additives but sometimes used illegally to boost protein content in products.