July 9/New Delhi, India/Asian News International (ANI) -- Food safety authorities in northwest China'a Qinghai Province have seized 64 tons of raw dairy materials contaminated with the toxic chemical, melamine, from a dairy plant.

Police traced the source of the milk powder to Dongyuan Dairy Factory, in Minhe County in neighboring Qinghai Province, Xinhua reported.

Another 12 tons of processed milk powder products, also tainted, were also seized.

In all, about 38 tons of the raw materials were purchased from north China's Hebei Province, the source of the toxic baby formula scandal that brought down the Sanlu dairy company in 2008, police said.

It is possible that traders had bought tainted milk that was supposed to be destroyed after the 2008 scandal, planning to process and resell it, said Wang Zhongxi, deputy chief of the quality control bureau in Gansu.

An employee of the Dongyuan Dairy Factory, Liu Xiping, sent three samples of milk powder for testing by Gansu's quality control bureau for melamine content test on June 25.

The bureau called the police after test results showed the samples had excessive levels of melamine.

Police have detained the owner and production director of the factory. From the July 12, 2010, Prepared Foods' Daily News
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