By Sim Chi Yin, China Correspondent

BEIJING: China has recalled all milk products made locally before Sept 14 for a new round of tests, the first blanket withdrawal it has ordered since the tainted dairy product scandal erupted last month.

In what looks like a bid to weed out any remaining contaminated milk, the authorities issued an 'urgent notice' dated last Friday but made public only yesterday, ordering manufacturers and shops across the country to 'immediately remove and stop selling' affected products.

The goods must be sealed in storage and sent to approved labs to be tested for the industrial chemical melamine found in baby formula last month, said the document, released through local media.

Heads roll as bitter winds of change bite

By Peh Shing Huei, China Correspondent

THE bitter winter winds of Beijing may still be more than a month away, but for some officials, the chill has already swept through the Chinese capital.

Two ministerial-level leaders and some 25 officials from the county level upwards have been sacked in the last month - a wave which commentators here say is 'unprecedented'.

No thanks to a list of tragic scandals and mishaps, ranging from the tainted milk crisis to the Shenzhen fire that killed 43 people, officials across China are being forced to wen ze, or to be accountable to the public. This could take the form of a censure, a demotion, or the current vogue, sacking.

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