Who to blame?

Loopholes in the administrative supervision and manipulative manufacturers trying to get away with unqualified products are to blame for the re-emergence of melamine-tainted products, said Sang Liwei, a Beijing-based food safety lawyer and representative of a nonprofit organization, the Global Food Safety Forum.

Though the government has required that dairy firms install melamine testing equipment themselves, the order was rarely implemented in some small dairy businesses, as the 400,000-yuan (60,000 U.S. dollars) equipment is too heavy a burden, said Li Hongwei, director with the Xiangtan Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

Li's deputy, Chen Weihua, attributed the misuse of melamine in dairy products to the over competitive market that lacks effective supervision. According to Li, many small dairy firms prefer to purchase raw materials from low-end suppliers to cut costs. This, he said, increased the quality risks.

Dai Xiang, board chairman of the dairy firm Xiangtan Yuanshan, complained that it was easy to fabricate a quality report but difficult for his company to identify the authenticity. In his case, Dai said he had trusted the quality reports from the raw material supplier, which proved to be falsified. "We are also the victim," Dai said.