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Starting immediately, 1,400 teams with 5,000 inspectors will be stationed at all companies producing baby milk to strictly oversee the process, Li said. Li said the government is seeking more information after Hong Kong food inspectors ordered the recall of an ice cream bar made by Shanghai Yili AB Foods because melamine was found. Amounts of the chemical found "would not pose major health effects from normal consumption of the bar, however, small children should not eat it," Hong Kong's Center for Food Safety said in a notice posted on its Web site. It is the second crisis to raise questions about government accountability in China since the image-boosting Olympics ended Aug. 24. At least 258 people died last week when a retaining wall of a waste dump at an illegal mine in northern China collapsed. The widening scandal is an embarrassing failure for China's product safety system, which was overhauled to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls and warnings abroad last year over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods. It is the second major case in recent years involving baby formula. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients. Sanlu company officials as well as government officials share the blame for delays in reporting the contamination, said Hebei deputy governor Yang Chongyong, who spoke on the sidelines of the press conference. Sanlu did not inform the Shijiazhuang municipal government until Aug. 2, after delaying for five months, Yang said. Then city officials waited until Sept. 9 to inform provincial officials, who then took a full day before contacting the central government, he said. ___ On the Net: Sanlu Group: http://www.sanlu.com/ Fonterra Co-operative Group: http://www.fonterra.com/
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