An as yet unknown number of infants have been sickened by a milk powder produced by Chinese dairy company Sanlu Group, state media reports. In one case, a child died of kidney stones said to have been caused by drinking the milk product, which was contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in plastics.
Sanlu Group, a major Chinese dairy partly owned by New Zealand's
Fonterra, recalled an estimated 700 tonnes of the contaminated milk
powder on 6 August.
In China's northwestern Gansu province doctors have reported a total of
59 cases of kidney stones in infants, compared with none in 2006 or
2007, China Daily reported. It said many of the sick children were fed
the Sanlu formula.
China's Health Ministry has ordered a nationwide probe and assured that
"those responsible will face serious punishment," Mao Qunan, a Ministry
spokesman, was quoted by state media.
Most of the milk powder is destined for the Chinese market, and only a
small amount is exported to Taiwan, a Fonterra spokesperson said. "Baby
formula from China is illegal in the United States and should not be
used," U.S. food regulators warned after Chinese officials confirmed
that the milk powder contamination led to the death of the infant.
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