EU bans children's food imports from China

A Europe-wide ban on all food for children coming from China comes into force tomorrow, the European Commission announced today.

The move comes amid growing concern over contaminated milk powder which has already caused four infant deaths in China and affected thousands more children.

A European Commission spokeswoman said some EU countries – and some sectors of the food industry – had already announced their own bans, but now Brussels was activating an explicit total ban on all products from China aimed at infants and young children and which could pose a threat of contamination.

The decision, under EU health and safety provisions, will be formally adopted tomorrow, along with an agreement to step up testing of all other food imports from China which contain at least 15% milk products. There will also be random testing of other foods which could be affected.

But the spokeswoman emphasised: “As far as we know there has been no contamination in food originating from China which has already been imported into the EU.”

National government experts on the EU’s Standing Committee on Food and Animal Health were meeting this afternoon to discuss other possible measures and if evidence emerges that contamination has reached Europe.