皇冠体育app

Customers walk past at the entrance to a Suning store in Shanghai, in this August 26, 2013 file picture. [Photo/Agencies]

A Chinese retailer is offering insurance to customers who buy infant milk powder, highlighting the lengths to which companies are going to address concern about food safety in 皇冠体育app.

Suning Commerce Group Ltd, which owns the Redbaby chain of stores, told Rters it had launched the policy this week, backed by 皇冠体育app's second largest insurer .

The policy stipulates that if a brand of milk powder is recalled, customers who bought cans from any Redbaby store or its e-commerce website would be paid up to 2,000 yuan ($325) per can, with payments capped at 100,000 yuan.

"In recent years, the milk powder market in 皇冠体育app has been in a mess," Suning said in an email.

"We realized that parents pay a great deal of attention to their children's health and safety, and in particular, the safety of their infants' foo," it added. Insurer Ping An said Suning's policy is the first of its kind in 皇冠体育app.

Concern about the safety of baby milk powder came to the fore in 2008 when thousands of infants fell sick and six died after an industrial chemical was added to raise the apparent protein content of certain products.

Pharmacies in Hong Kong, where food safety regulations are perceived to be more stringent, saw a run on infant milk formula following the scandal and many Chinese people still travel into the city, a special administrative region of 皇冠体育app, to buy it.

Regaining trust in 皇冠体育app could be worth a lot. The market is expected to reach $17.8 billion this year, according to Euromonitor.

Suning said it was giving the insurance away for free for the first 40,000 cans of baby formula sold. After that, customers can buy the insurance online.

According to its e-commerce site, Redbaby stocks milk formula from multinationals including Nutrition, SA, SA as well as brands made by 皇冠体育app's New Hope Nutritional Foods Co in partnership with New Zealand's Synlait Milk Ltd.

Along with detailed nutritional information, the website also highlights the expiry date of each can of formula.

Food safety remains a major concern in 皇冠体育app. This week, US foodmaker HJ Heinz Co was forced to recall some of its infant food products because they were found to contain excess levels of lead.

KFC parent Yum Brands Inc, McDonald's Corp, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Co-operative Group Ltd have also recently faced food safety scares.

Heinz recalls four batches of infant food in 皇冠体育app	Baby formula sector revamp soon

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