China has placed a ban on artificial edible flavours in certain foodstuff, comprising baby food as well as dairy products.

In a law passed Monday, China's ministry of health prohibited the use of artificial flavours in food like milk, cream, veggies and animal fat, baby food and bottled water.

The directive also wants producers to discover and name the flavours on food labels, with the intention that consumers are not misdirected.

Food safety has long been a concern in China, as several scandals linked to food safety have been exposed in recent years.

In the year 2008 "milk scandal", milk laced with melamine resulted in the death of at least six infants and more than 300,000 others fell ill in Hebei province. (With Inputs from Agencies)