After Public Health initiated an environmental health inspection last week, the public is now wary to purchase any Chinese-made milk products including items with milk ingredients.
Ta Bun Kuy, member of the Chinese Association on Saipan board of directors, said the Chinese business community is always willing to cooperate with the CNMI government.
While it is public knowledge that Chinese milk products are now being examined by world health officials, there is still no specific list of what milk products are not safe for human consumption, Kuy said.
Public Health should come up with a list and publish it in the local Chinese newspaper, he said, adding that there are U.S. and European products with Chinese labels that can be mistaken as made from China.
Kuy said it is a “natural reaction” on the part of consumers not to buy Chinese milk products even if there’s no conclusive findings that these items can harm one’s health.
“This will eventually affect the sales average in the store if they will not clear other goods from China,” he said.
Public Health, after making a master list, should conduct an immediate laboratory test to determine what goods are not fit for human consumption and what items can remain on store shelves, he said.
According to Kuy, the Chinese business community is also asking Public Health to examine other food products from U.S., Europe and Asian countries.
He said there have been reports about contaminated Japanese rice.
“They should not single out Chinese products,” he added.
He said they have not received any complaints from the consumer “but the people are scared to buy any Chinese product.”
