No toxic milk in Dubai, says official

Dubai: The Municipality confirmed on Tuesday that Chinese milk products containing toxic melamine levels are not sold in Dubai.

Khalid Sharif Al Awadhi, Director of the Food Control Department, said: "We confirm these kinds of milk are not available in Dubai, since most milk products are imported into the UAE from reputable companies." The contaminated milk products were manufactured in local Chinese factories and UAE companies have strict measures for quality control, he said.

Emke Group, the largest retail chain in the Middle East, also confirmed from Abu Dhabi that LuLu supermarkets never imported any milk products from China, but only from Europe, New Zealand and India.

After toxic levels of melamine were discovered in powdered milk manufactured by San Lu in China, numerous recalls have been announced.

Chinese state media said yesterday that a total of 53,000 children have so far fallen ill, and that the company failed to report product complaints from as early as last December.

With input from Nina Muslim and Binsal Abdul Kader/Staff Reporters