CRISISBOOM

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, says of over 1,100 dairies inspected, 426 failed to pass the licensing renewal test.

Another 107 were ordered to suspend production until they improved operations.

Fearing many dairy owners will ignore the production ban and secretly resume operations, officials also issued a warning. “Production without a license will be strictly punished according to the law,” the agency said.

Like other parts of China‘s food sector, the dairy industry has been riddled with poisoning and toxin scandals that have repeatedly shaken consumer confidence.

At least six children died and nearly 300,000 fell ill in 2008 after they drank powdered milk laced with melamine, which gave misleadingly high readings of protein levels.

The industrial chemical was added by unscrupulous dairy owners to low quality or diluted milk to fool food inspectors.

And earlier this year, it was reported dairy manufacturers had illegally added a leather protein powder to their products in another bid to cheat protein-content checks.

Last month, the public was panicked once more when it was disclosed illegal additives were used in pig feed, so tainting one of the countries staples dishes, pork.