Fresh standards for dairy industry

By Wu Ye

A child holds a bottle of milk. Photo:CFP

A draft of new quality and safety standards for dairy products released by the Ministry of Health on October 20 is a sign that China is serious about protecting consumers and could also change the landscape of the dairy industry, said analysts, consumers and company executives.

After a year of discussions, the new standards were posted on the ministry's website, www.moh.gov.cn, for public input, a move designed to upgrade the entire industry and restore consumer confidence following last year's scandal of melamine tainted milk powder that killed at least six children and hospitalized hundreds.

"The draft standards are much clearer and more systematized," said Mao Xueying, associate professor of the Key Dairy Laboratory, co-run by the Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipality. Mao said conflicting, repetitive and overlapping standards and rules were cut and some more are "even stricter, meeting international standards."

Mao also told the Global Times that the new standards require milk producers to clearly label their products as "pasteurized milk," "ultra-high temperature treated (UHT) milk" or "reconstituted milk" so consumers know exactly what they are buying.

Revised reconstituted milk rules

Reconstituted milk is made from water and powdered milk and a ton of milk powder can usually make eight tons of reconstituted milk. But after being twice subjected to ultra-high temperatures for health reasons, reconstituted milk also loses a lot of nutrition.

Due to the lack of nutrition, many consumers are reluctant to buy reconstituted milk products but may unwittingly do so because there is currently no firm rule requiring that it be labeled as reconstituted or saying that it contains a certain percentage of reconstituted milk, said Mao. The new labeling requirement may help change the situation.

But due to a lack of dairies, especially in the southeast of China, many dairy producers will continue to use reconstituted milk to maintain their operations, though their businesses may shrink, said Wang Jiaqi, assistant to president of New Hope Dairy Holdings, in a phone interview.

'Fresh' vs UHT

The new standards also require pasteurized milk products to be labeled as "fresh milk" close to the name of the products in a size no smaller than the name and no shorter than one fifth of the height of the package while UHT milk packages are also required to meet the same standards.

Pasteurized milk must be stored cold by both suppliers and consumers, while UHT processing holds the milk at a temperature of 138 °C for a fraction of a second, enabling the drinkable period to last as long as eight months at room temperature.

Dairy expert Wang Dingmian believed the new standards will enable pasteurized milk to gain more competitive advantages after a 2004 ban on using the word "fresh" on pasteurized milk products

Media reports described the change as a victory for China's two top pasteurized milk producers, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and Mengniu Dairy over UHT milk giants, Sanyuan Group and Bright Dairy.

"Most people in Western countries drink pasteurized milk because they think it's more nutritious than UHT," Mao said. "I also recommend that consumers drink pasteurized milk and I guess its market share will rise following the new standards," Mao said.

Zhu Weihua, an analyst of China Merchants Securities, said in an interview with the Global Times that the new standards may help to ease the decline of pasteurized milk market share. But whether there will be a large sales increase depends on the preferences of consumers, many of whom put convenience as the top priority when they choose milk.

Consumers weigh in

A Global Times spot survey at a Beijing Carrefour Wednesday found that 12 out of 20 interviewees knew the difference between pasteurized and UHT milk. The majority of interviewees preferred pasteurized milk to UHT because they said they like the taste of the former and believe it is more nutritious than the latter.

However, some consumers think there is no big difference between the two regarding nutrition and prefer UHT milk for holidays, in the office and as gifts to friends.

In the interview, Beijing resident Bai Minzhu said that she has gained more confidence in domestic milk after the government took measures to overhaul the dairy industry after the toxic milk powder scandal.

One Beijing milk drinker said he still doesn't trust mainland milk. Wang Wengen, a Hongkonger who lives in Beijing, said that he only buys imported milk because it will take a long time for him to trust domestic milk again following the milk scandal.

Another Beijing milk drinker said the new labels wouldn't make much difference, but expressed hope that the government will continue to clean up the industry. "The lift on labeling pasteurized milk as fresh won't make much difference for me because I have my own choices, but I do hope the government strengthens supervision over the quality and safety of dairy products and dairy producers ensure their honesty for the health of consumers," said Li Xiaoqi.

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