National

Regional

Taiwan, HK, Macao

Special Coverage

Focus

Society

Profiles

Dairy farmers 'to blame' for poisoned milk

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-13 08:33

Defective fresh milk from unlawful dairy farmers is to blame for the contamination of the milk powder from Sanlu Group that has so far killed one baby and caused kidney stones in about 140 others, official sources said on Friday.

A woman holding her sick baby is seen at Sanlu Group, Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, September 12, 2008. The baby suffered from kidney stone after drinking milk powder made by Sanlu. [Xinhua]

An announcement from the government of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, said an initial investigation had shown some milk providers had added an industrial contaminant, melamine, to diluted milk to boost their profits.

The chemical is used to get around factory quality tests as it makes the milk appear to be high in protein.

As of Friday morning, police had questioned 78 suspects and the investigation is ongoing, the government said.

On Thursday, Sanlu, China's largest producer of powdered milk, recalled 700 tons of baby formula produced between March and Aug 5.

On Friday, Su Changsheng, director of the firm's brand management department, denied the contamination had occurred in production.

"It (the problem) is from the very source of the milk," he said.

"There are no requirements or standards for testing for melamine in milk."

Related readings:  Health Ministry: Tainted milk powder cause of infant kidney stones  78 questioned in powder milk contamination  Chemical substance in milk powder, why?  Milk food recalled as baby dies

Sanlu began receiving complaints in March from customers who said their babies' urine was discolored and that some had been hospitalized, the government said.

The company discovered early last month that some unlawful farmers had added melamine to their fresh milk, and had reported the matter to the supervision authorities, it said.

As of Wednesday, the company had sealed 2,176 tons of milk powder that might be contaminated and recalled 8,210 tons.

About 700 tons are still on the market, the announcement said.

"All products made after Aug 6 are safe," it said.

As of Thursday, the Gansu health department had reported 59 infants suffering from kidney stones in the province, and one death.

Similar cases were reported in 10 other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, with the total now at about 140.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page