A newspaper reported one death from receiving the fake albumin, but authorities have not officially said whether anyone has fallen ill.

A shortage of albumin, a blood protein that chronically ill people often lack, triggered a nationwide investigation in March into whether fakes were being sold to meet demand, China Central Television said.

The report centered around an investigation in the northeastern province of Jilin, where 59 hospitals and pharmacies were sold the unusable blood protein. It did not say what the counterfeits were made of, but CCTV's Web site showed two vials of albumin, the real product looking cloudier and more viscous than the translucent fake.

Albumin is a primary protein in human plasma that is important in maintaining blood volume. It is used to treat a number of conditions including shock, burns, liver failure, pancreatitis and it is used in patients undergoing open heart surgery.

"The harm could be very great," Chen Hongguo, head of the pharmaceutical section of the Jingyu County People's Hospital in Jilin, told CCTV in an interview. Chen said the hospital had bought fake protein from the Jilin Yatai Wanlian Pharmaceutical Company.

Citing a Jilin food and drug safety official, CCTV also said that the albumin was made at a cost of about 10 yuan ($1.30), but was sold 300 yuan ($38) per vial.

It said a salesman from the company has been detained but did not give any details. A woman who answered the telephone at the company said no managers were around and she was "unclear" about the situation.

Seven out of 36 batches of albumin tested by the Jilin Food and Drug Research Institute were found to be bogus, CCTV quoted the institute's deputy director, Xu Fei, as saying.

"There was no element of protein, so it could not perform its intended function," Xu was quoted as saying by CCTV. "They were through-and-through fakes," Xu said.

Jilin government officials referred all questions to the provincial Food and Drug Administration, which said there was no spokesman available to answer questions. An official with the State Food and Drug Administration confirmed the CCTV report but refused to give his name or any other details.

Authorities have in past struggled with recalls following the widespread sale of fake polio vaccines, vitamins and even baby formula. Such incidents threaten both public health and faith in the government's ability to control crime and corruption and ensure safety of food and drug supplies.

The China Business News said that the State Food and Drug Administration had seized fake blood protein from other provinces and regions including Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Chongqing.

The paper said that the mother of Zhu Huazheng, from the eastern province of Shandong, had died after using fake albumin from Beijing Tiantan Bioproducts Company, but did not give details.

A company employee was quoted as saying that no albumin had been produced since February because of a shortage of raw materials.

"Many fake product makers have seized the chance and sold bogus blood protein under our name. We are still investigating it," said the unidentified employee.

Telephones at the company rang unanswered on Monday.