Another Milk Powder Scandal

There will always be a premium for imported milk powder, especially if the supply chain is secure (such as your friend or relative travels abroad).

Caixin: Company-Authorized Dealer Is Linked to Latest Milk Powder Scandal

A company-authorized dealer of baby formula has been linked to a ring making selling knockoff baby milk powder, a case that one analyst says highlights problems with government supervision of the industry.

Police in Shanghai detained the dealer and eight other people from December 9, 2015, to January 7 this year on suspicion they produced and sold knockoff milk powder products, an official with a food-safety office under the cabinet said at a news conference in the capital on April 9.

Acting on a tip-off from Abbott Laboratories Ltd. in September 2015, police found more than 20,000 empty containers of that brand and 65,000 sets of labeling materials, said Ma Chunliang, head of an investigation team from the State Council's food-safety office.

...Song Liang, an independent industry analyst in Beijing, said that the scandal exposed problems with the oversight of dealers, wholesalers and retailers. He said that a computer system to allow authorities to track baby formula from producers to consumers is still not complete eight years after the dairy industry was hit by a major scandal.

Luckily, the scammers were selling real milk powder, not fake or adulterated powder.