Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised Saturday that his country's food
exports would win the trust of people around the world even as more
tainted products were pulled from store shelves in Hong Kong and
Thailand.
Mr. Wen said new legislation requiring greater
government responsibility would make Chinese products meet the
standards of importing countries.
Food safety has drawn renewed
attention since Chinese-produced milk tainted with the toxic chemical
melamine killed four babies in China and sickened tens of thousands
more.
The chemical has since turned up in Chinese exports and food products manufactured in east Asia.
Hong
Kong's Center for Food Safety said Saturday it had found the toxic
chemical melamine in eggs imported from China and cookies baked in the
Philippines.
Authorities in Thailand recalled two brands of
snacks made in China and one made in Malaysia after finding they
contained melamine.
Mr. Wen said the Chinese government was in
part to blame for the recent tainted milk crisis and promised
legislation to improve food safety.
The products found to
contain melamine in Hong Kong are Select Fresh Brown Eggs from China
and Croley Foods Sunflower Crackers from the Philippines.
Those found in Thailand are Chinese made Hajuku and Koala cookies and Malaysian-made Julie's peanut crackers.
China's
parliament began debating a new food safety bill Thursday which would
require greater government responsibility and ban all but authorized
additives in food production.
China has arrested 42 people in the tainted milk scandal.
China's
Health Ministry says more than 3,600 babies sickened by melamine are
still in the hospital. Three of them are in serious condition. The
ministry says about 46,000 others have been treated and released.
Melamine in large doses can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
China's
food safety record has drawn international scrutiny since last year,
when chemically-tainted toothpaste, pet food and other products made in
China raised international concern.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
