Milk powder has and will always be parents’ top concern, since it is closely associated with baby’s health. In the wake of China's 2008 milk powder scandal, most Chinese parents prefer foreign brands since they think the imports are safer and more advanced. However, is it really the case?
In order to find out, CCTV news has been looked into the quality of milk powder from China and abroad with the help of DAC (Dairy Association of China) and CSFDA (China State Farm Dairy Alliance).
They picked six oversea brands as test objects, including Aptamil, Nutrilon, Enfamil, Similac, Meiji and ICREO, all of which are top choice among Chinese consumers.
At the same time, they picked three popular and reputable domestic brands as objects as well. They were Firmus, ilactou and Anlicong.
Together these nine brands were sampled and sent to several related authorities including Milk and Dairy Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Test Center of Ministry of Agriculture and Beijing Inspection and Quarantine Testing Center. Up to 52 indexes were being tested, including levels of protein, carbohydrate and various vitamins.
Yesterday, the result of the survey was finally released. According to the survey, all of the domestic milk powder brands passed the test but two thirds of the foreign brands failed the test.
The milk powder of Meiji and ICREO are reported to contain lower vitamin K1 than what’s required in China’s regulations over milk and dairy products. Long-term lack of vitamin K1 may lead to dysfunction of blood coagulation.
Moreover, the two brands from Japan also do not contain enough iodine, which is vital to babies’ bodies. As is known to all, iodine deficiency is the main cause of cretinism.
As for the samples from Enfamil and Similac, they contain more iron than what’s recommended by China’s standards – consuming too much of this may cause babies to retch or even result in gastrointestinal bleedings.
To sum up, among the oversea baby milk brands, only Aptamil and Nutrilon successfully passed test while others failed due to various quality issues. Next time you decide to buy imported infant formula from abroad, take these results into consideration.
[Images via CCTV news]
