Tang Yiwen, 9-month old, is checked by
doctor at a children's hospital in Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region Sept. 16, 2008. The infant milk powder produced by most
companies in China was safe according to the nationwide check results
following the Sanlu baby formula scam, the country's State Council
departments said on Tuesday. (Xinhua Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
BEIJING,
Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese inspectors have found the chemical melamine in 69
batches of baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide, the country's
quality watchdog said late on Tuesday.
The authorities ordered a halt to the sale of the
tainted products which included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili
and Yashili, among others.
The State Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said test samples came from 491 batches of
products sold by all the 109 companies that produced the baby milk powder in the
country.
The melamine content in the Sanlu brand reached 2,563
mg per kg, the highest among all the samples. In other samples, the range was
from 0.09 mg to 619 mg per kilogram.
Guangdong Yashili was the only brand being exported.
No melamine was found in its samples.
The chemical was not found in dairy products served
for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
Parents with their babies wait for
examinations at a children's hospital in Hefei, capital of east China's
Anhui Province Sept. 16, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
No chemical was found in the liquid milk produced
after Sept. 14.
Relevant departments have begun an investigation of
the implicated companies to find out the problematic source and punish those
responsible.
The AQSIQ has also sent inspectors to every dairy
product factory in the country to keep a close watch over every aspect of the
production process.
Dairy giant Sanlu Group apologized to the public on
Monday for its contaminated milk powder that had sickened 1,253 babies with
kidney stones, two fatally.
Tian Wenhua, the group's chairwoman and general
manager, was fired from her posts in the wake of the scandal.
According to the Ministry of Health, the two deaths
in Gansu were a five-month-old boy who died on May 1 after his family refused
further treatment, and an eight-month-old girl whose family also refused an
operation and removed her from hospital on July 22, the day she died.
Both were fed the Sanlu formula and suffered kidney
failure.
Among the more than 1,200 sick babies, 53 had
"relatively serious symptoms," the ministry said at a news conference in Beijing
on Monday.
Health Vice Minister Ma Xiaowei said special
hospitals had been appointed nationwide to provide treatment for all the infants
with the stones.
Melamine is used in plastics and other industries and
is strictly forbidden in food processing. Experts say it is added to raw milk so
the protein content of the milk appears higher than it actually is.
Four people in connection with the contamination were
arrested by Hebei police.
Authorities have so far seized 2,176 tons of milk
powder in the warehouse of Sanlu Group. About 8,218 tons currently in the market
had been recalled, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor Li Jinlu on Monday.
Another 700 tons was on its way back to Shijiazhuang,
Li added. All the tainted milk powder would be destroyed.
Sanlu, which is 43 percent owned by New Zealand dairy
company Fonterra, was ordered to halt production.
BEIJING, Sept.
16 (Xinhua) -- The infant milk powder produced by most companies in China was
safe according to the nationwide check results following the Sanlu baby formula
scam, the country's State Council departments said on Tuesday.
The State Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine said it had tested 491 batches of baby milk powder
produced by all the 109 companies in the country in a special inspection move.
BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Health Ministry
pledged free health care for all babies sickened after drinking contaminated
formula. It will also send medical experts to local clinics to assist with
treatments.
The ministry organized a 34 person team, composed of five
pediatricians, seven urologists, 10 nephrologists, or kidney specialists, and 12
ultrasonographers.
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept.
16 (Xinhua) -- Four local officials in north China's Hebei Province were fired
on Tuesday following the baby milk powder scandal across the country.
Zhang Fawang, vice mayor in charge of agricultural
production of Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and Sun Renhu, the city's
animal husbandry administration chief, were fired late Tuesday following legal
procedures, according to a decision made by the city's legislative body.
BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese
infants stricken with kidney stones caused by contaminated milk powder soared to
1,253 with two dead as of 8 a.m. on Monday, the Ministry of Health said here on
Monday.
According to the ministry, most of the cases occurred
in Hebei, Jiangsu and Gansu provinces. The two deaths were both in the northwest
Gansu Province. Full story
BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of
Agriculture launched an inspection of the country's dairy industry on Monday
after tainted milk powder sickened babies and aroused concern.
Six ministry teams were dispatched to the country's
six major milk-producing regions, including Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and
Heilongjiang in the north, Xinjiang in the west and the central Henan Province.
Full story
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000
tons of baby formula that was seized and recalled in the Sanlu milk powder
contamination scandal will be destroyed, said the government of Shijiazhuang,
capital of north China's Hebei Province, on Monday.
Authorities have so far seized 2,176 tons of milk
powder in the warehouse of Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave
kidney stones to hundreds of infants across the country, and recalled 8,218 tons
that had been on the market, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor Li Jinlu. Full story
