Chinese authorities closed a dairy in Shanghai and arrested three of the company’s executives after melamine was discovered in its dairy products, according to a Shanghai newspaper.
According to The Shanghai Daily, Chinese officials discovered Panda Dairy Col. Ltd. was producing milk powder and condensed milk contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause organ failure.
Authorities arrested Panda’s corporate representative, general manager, and deputy general manager and relinquished the company’s business and food production licenses.
The action comes over a year after the country’s shocking, widespread melamine dairy scandal, which killed six infants and sickened over 300,000 in 2008–a saga that received widespread international media coverage.
Just over a month ago, two executives were executed for their involvement in the 2008 scandal, and earlier this month, Chinese authorities arrested three men tied to melamine-contaminated milk in Shaanxi.
Melamine is an attractive adulterant because boosts nitrogen content, making dairy products show artificially high protein levels in quality assurance tests.
According to a daily in Shanghai, the chemical was found in a high-calcium milk powder marketed to adults, prompting authorities to take action against the producer.
