Amid the panic, nervous parents have come up with some creative ideas and tips. Some have decided to use different brands alternately and as often as possible to reduce risks. Some have called for longer periods of breastfeeding and others for exploring alternative sources of milk, like camel milk, which cost much more but until now is "untainted".

On a more practical note, though, parents will continue to buy foreign infant formula that have not been recently involved in a food safety scandal. Because such products are becoming rare in China, people of means have widened their search, stocking supplies of lesser-known but reputable foreign brands.

Many more may have already started giving a second thought to domestic products that they have always tried to avoid. With several foreign brands implicated in safety and pricing scandals, the choice between buying foreign and domestic products seems increasingly like opting for the lesser of two evils.

At the urging of the government, major domestic companies, of late, have been trying to win back consumers' trust and regain some of their lost shares in the domestic dairy industry through mergers and restructuring. They are keen to use foreign raw materials or produce them in overseas plants as a way of repairing their tattered reputation.

However, as the Fonterra case shows, big is not necessarily safe and top foreign brands are not free of scandals. It may take years for Chinese dairy companies to take off again, for which they have to fix some chronic problems such as lack of transparency and a sense of responsibility for consumers.

Until then, parents will live in constant fear of tainted food while domestic and foreign players both walk a tightrope amid increasing public scrutiny.

The author is editor-at-large of China Daily. dr.baiping@chinadaily.com.cn.