PUBLIC ANGER was growing in China yesterday over a food safety scandal involving dairy products containing the dangerous chemical melamine, which has caused the deaths of four babies so far, reports Clifford Coonanin Beijing.
The latest in a litany of food safety crises to rock public confident in the "Made in China" label, the scandal has spread from infant milk formula to milk and ice cream.
Hong Kong health officials have ordered the recall of products from the Yili dairy company, an Olympic sponsor with a high profile, after tests found that eight of 30 of its products, including milk, were tainted with melamine.
So far, 6,244 children have become ill with kidney stones after drinking powdered milk boosted with melamine to give the impression that it contained more protein than it actually did. Four have died and 158 have suffered "acute kidney failure".
Lawyers and rights campaigners have offered their services to support families affected by the scandal, and they are receiving thousands of enquiries.
The health scare first emerged after China's biggest dairy, the Sanlu Group, revealed that its milk powder contained melamine, which is used to make it look like the milk contains more protein than it really does. A subsequent inquiry showed 22 of 109 Chinese dairy producers, including top brands, made products adulterated with the substance.
The reaction in Chinese media has been one of outrage, although there has been no mention of claims that Sanlu and officials in Shijiazhuang, where the company is based, concealed the poisonings from the public and senior authorities during the Olympics.
Sanlu is 43 per cent owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, and New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark said this week that Chinese officials had acted only after her government pressed Beijing.
The deputy governor of Hebei, Yang Chongyong, said this week that Sanlu had known melamine was being used in its milk from as early as 2005. The company is still trying to track down 35 tons of tainted milk powder.