BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Ministry of Health here has recalled a batch of baby formula that is found to have a hazardously low nutritional value.

    Stores have been ordered to immediately stop selling the substandard infant formula "Xiang Xue Hai" with batch number 20050112. Parents have been told to stop using it and discard any they have left.

    The formula was made by Xiang Xue Hai Dairy Limited Company of Baotou in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. "The infant formula is hazardously low in protein, fat, vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc," said the Chinese Ministry of Health here Wednesday.

    The inferior formula was recently discovered on China's rural market by ministry inspectors.

    The ministry said anyone who continues selling the baby formula will be punished.

    The inferior formula was discovered even after a sweeping crackdown on such products which followed a series of tragic incidents in 2004. That's when a number of infants in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces were found to be suffering from malnutrition after being fed substandard infant formula. One baby girl in Anhuidied of malnutrition.

    Earlier this year, a wholesaler and a retailer of inferior infant formula were tried in a district court in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. They were charged with selling the "Zheng Meng" brand of baby formula despite a ban by the local administration. Many infants were reported to have suffered malnutrition that affected their mental development.

    In December 2005, two people who were found to be responsible for producing the inferior "Lizichun" brand of baby formula were sentenced to five to seven years in prison. It was determined that the formula had caused the death of one baby.

    The director of the milk powder factory, surnamed Li, was givena seven-year sentence and fined 500,000 yuan (61,700 U.S. dollars), and the deputy director in charge of technical affairs, surnamed Liu, was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year reprieve.

    From 2002 to 2004, Li and Liu continued to make the "Lezichun" formula even though they were aware that it did not meet national standards. Enditem