Maiquer's best-selling 'pure milk' carried an illegal additive — a ¥73M fine

On June 30, 2022, the market regulator of Qingyuan County in Zhejiang province published a spot-check result: two batches of Maiquer pure milk, produced April 21 and May 7 that year, tested positive for propylene glycol. Within days, Xinjiang regulators were inside the company's plant, ordering it to stop producing pure milk and to recall, seal and pull the affected products from sale; e-commerce platforms removed Maiquer's milk. The brand had built itself into a national online bestseller on exactly that product.

On August 22, 2022, the Changji City market supervision administration issued the penalty: confiscation of ¥360,000 in illegal income and a ¥73.15M fine, against non-compliant product worth ¥5.225M. The investigation found the company dosed an additive mixture — 97.3% propylene glycol (INS 1520), 2.2% food flavoring, 0.5% water — into raw milk at the intake stage of its pure-milk line. Propylene glycol is permitted in some foods but never in pure milk, and Maiquer acknowledged the substance had never been part of its own testing criteria.

The bill landed on a company already losing money — losses of ¥150M in 2018 and ¥70.88M in 2019 — that had concentrated its fortunes on one hero product. Pure milk was roughly half of Maiquer's revenue, with the dairy division bringing in ¥730M in 2021. The company forecast a first-half 2022 net loss of ¥130M to ¥195M, against a ¥10.94M profit a year earlier, and pulled its milk from sale nationwide while the line stood idle.