2016年CRI Authorities Look for 3,300 Cans of Fake Infant Formula（在线收听）

The latest scandal involved roughly 17-thousand cans of knockoff infant formula connected to two brand names, BeingMate and Abbott.

The State Council's food safety office says they know the products were sold in the provinces of Henan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu.

However, authorities have still not been able to trace around 33-hundred of the cans.

Six suspects are facing charges, while one other remains on the loose.

Authorities say the group earned nearly 2-million yuan by repackaging cheap milk powder in BeingMate and Abbott containers, and then selling them for higher prices.

The latest milk scandal comes just weeks after the nation was shocked by a massive network selling improperly stored or expired vaccines.

Apart from concerns over food and drug safety, there are also complaints about the lack of transparency in letting people know about the investigations.

It's been revealed both investigations started last year, but only came to light after being publicized through social media.

A recent report released by Peking University has cited 19 out of the country's 31 provincial food and drug watchdogs for lacking transparency when it comes to the release of information the public needs.

Wang Xixin with Peking University.

"The lack of information transparency leads to the lack of mutual trust between the regulator and the market players and also the customers. It will also make it difficult for people to prevent risks posed by fake food and drug products."

Xue Lan with Tsinghua University says regaining trust in China requires these types of institutions to do a better job of making information available.

"The only solution is to build a modern and scientific supervisory system with strong supervision capability and streamlined procedures. Regulators should take a neutral position and do as much as possible to ensure timely information release so as to build up reputation."

The State Council's food safety office says the investigation into the milk scandal took as long as it did because of the complex nature by which the group ran its operation.

Tainted baby formula is a major concern for parents in China.

In 2008, the addition of Melamine into infant formula to give the appearance of extra protein left 6 children dead and over 54-thousand hospitalized.

Four years earlier, 12 children died of malnutrition after being fed watered down milk products.

For CRI, this is Fei Fei.