China milk consumers hunt for alternatives: study

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese dairy brands at the center of the country's latest food safety scandal face big hurdles luring back alarmed consumers seeking alternatives, according to a study released on Wednesday.

The telephone survey of 900 Chinese milk consumers found most will keep drinking the stuff but "have had their confidence in milk brands deeply shaken," according to All Media Count, a Beijing-based company that conducted the study.

Four children have died and many thousands have been made badly sick from melamine, a cheap compound that was added to milk to cheat quality checks.

Like protein, melamine is rich in nitrogen and was used by traders to disguise diluted or substandard milk.

The survey, completed in late September in Beijing, Shanghai and other parts of the country, found Sanlu Dairy, the producer of the tainted infant milk formula that set off the industry-wide scandal, was worst-hit by consumer anger.

"Half of Sanlu's former loyalists claim they will avoid the brand in future," said a summary of the study sent by e-mail.

"This is likely to be an unsurmountable loss of trust ..."

The study indicated that Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and Mengniu Dairy, two big dairy companies also found to have products tainted with melamine, now face angry consumers looking for other brands.

"Although only about one quarter of their loyal customers say they will avoid these brands in the future, many more of their customers say they are open to alternative milk brands," said the report.