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Baby milk recall after infant death (2008-09-14)
 

Investigators who raided the factory discovered that the formula had been contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical used in plastic.

It is the latest blow to the reputation of China's goods, following a series of product recalls for everything from toxic toys to poisonous cough syrup.

A total of 78 people, including dairy farmers and milk dealers, have been questioned over the contamination.

A Health Ministry spokesman, Mao Qunan, said: "Those responsible will face serious punishment."

The producer, Sanlu Group, knew about the contamination more than a month ago but did not announce it publicly, said a company manager, Su Changsheng, quoted on the website of a leading Chinese business magazine.

"The suspects added water to the milk they sold to Sanlu to make more money," official Xinhua news agency quoted the deputy mayor of Shijiazhuang, the city where Sanlu is based, as saying.

   
Baby milk recall

"They also added melamine so that the diluted milk could still meet standards." Su Changsheng said the chemical might have been added to make the milk's protein content appear higher. Melamine is nitrogen-rich, and standard tests for protein in bulk food ingredients measure levels of nitrogen. The tainted formula saw 59 babies - most less than a year old - admitted to hospital in northwest China's Gansu province. Other cases are now cropping up across the country.

   

Investigators found melamine in the urine and kidney stones of the sick babies, Xinhua said, citing a government investigation team.

Lu Yuan, a urologist with the No. 1 Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said 14 sick babies were brought into her facility in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province.

"Most of the babies looked worn-out and had a fever when they arrived at the hospital," she said. "Some didn't produce any urine for two to three days and were in very serious condition."

The case is the second involving harmful baby formula in China in recent years. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed contaminated formula.

In US Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to avoid Chinese infant formula, although a New Zealand dairy cooperative that owns part of Sanlu said it believed no tainted powder was exported from China.

Sanlu, based in Shijiazhuang, a city southwest of Beijing, buys milk from suppliers that include 60,000 farming households, according to its website.

The company has 18 percent of China's market for milk powder, and produces 6,800 tons of milk a day.

 
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