3rd Chinese baby dies, 6,000 others ill from tainted milk
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | 12:30 AM ET
CBC News
A third child in China has died in connection with tainted baby milk formula that has now sickened more than 6,000 others, China’s health minister said Wednesday.
At least 6,244 infants have fallen ill after being fed the faulty formula, Chen Zhu told a news conference — up from 1,200 known illnesses the day before. He said 158 are suffering from acute kidney failure because of the contaminated milk powder.
A third child in eastern Zhejiang province has also died. Two earlier deaths were reported in Gansu province.
Two Chinese brothers have been arrested on accusations they deliberately added a toxic chemical to milk that was then supplied to the largest baby formula producer in China.
Chinese authorities said Tuesday inspectors have now found the chemical melamine in batches of milk powder produced by 22 companies out of the 109 tested.
Melamine reportedly boosts the appearance of protein in the baby formula, and is the same chemical used in fire retardants and other industrial products that was also found in pet food exported by China, which last year killed hundreds of cats and dogs in Canada and the United States.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media reported Tuesday that some of the milk products from one company had been exported to neighbouring Asian countries. It did not indicate which ones.
With files from the Associated Press
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/17/china-milkdeaths.html
Chinese officials fear more illness from bad baby formula
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | 1:18 AM ET
CBC News
An investigation into tainted baby milk formula that has already sickened hundreds of children in China could reveal more illnesses, China’s Health Ministry warned Tuesday.
More than 1,200 children have fallen ill with kidney stones and serious urinary tract problems because of contaminated baby formula. Fifty of those children are in serious condition, while two have already died.
Health ministry officials said medical agencies are preparing to deal with more cases, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.
Chinese police have arrested two brothers with the surname Geng who run a milk collection centre in Hebei province. The pair are accused of deliberately adding a toxic chemical to the milk that was then supplied to the largest baby formula producer in China.
The company responsible for producing the tainted formula, Sanlu Group, has apologized for the error.
Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy farmers’ co-operative that owns 43 per cent of Sanlu, apparently warned the Chinese firm to re-call the products several weeks ago, according to the CBC’s Anthony Germaine, reporting from China.
Tests had shown the formula contained melamine — the same chemical used in fire retardants and other industrial products that was also found in pet food exported by China, which last year killed hundreds of cats and dogs in Canada and the United States.
Melamine reportedly boosted the appearance of protein in the baby formula, and is what doctors have said could be causing kidney stones and other ailments in the babies who consumed it.
Authorities have seized 2,176 tonnes of milk powder from a Sanlu warehouse and recalled 8,218 tonnes already sent to market, Xinhua said. It said all would be destroyed.
With files from the Associated Press
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/16/china-babyformula.html
China warns more may be sickened by tainted milk
Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | 9:17 AM ET
Canadian Press: TINI TRAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING – China’s Health Ministry warned that even more babies may have been sickened by contaminated milk powder as an investigation continued Tuesday into the tainted product already linked to the deaths of two infants and the illnesses of more than 1,200 others.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the ministry as saying medical agencies were prepared for the probe to uncover additional cases and were setting up a treatment system for affected infants.
The company at the heart of the widening food scandal, Sanlu Group Co., has apologized for the tainted milk powder, which the Health Ministry says was spiked with the industrial chemical melamine. The company says suppliers who sold the raw milk apparently added the chemical, normally used in plastics, to make the milk seem higher in protein.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on its Tuesday evening newscast that a nationwide inspection of the 175 companies producing baby milk powder showed that 22 of them had traces of melamine in their products. Only one company, based in the southern province of Guangdong, exported its products abroad – to Bangladesh, Yemen, and Burma, CCTV said.
Zhang Zhenling, Sanlu’s vice president, apologized Monday but did not explain why the company took so long to inform the public about the contamination despite receiving complaints as early as March and having tests confirm the presence of the chemical in early August.
The company went public with the information after its New Zealand stakeholder told the New Zealand government, which then informed the Chinese government.
“The serious safety accident of the Sanlu formula milk powder for infants has caused severe harm to many sickened babies and their families. We feel really sad about this,” Zhang said, reading from a prepared statement.
Chinese health officials said 1,200 infants have been sickened by the tainted milk powder, and police announced they had arrested two more milk suppliers from northern Hebei province late Monday.
In total, four men have been arrested, spokesman Shi Guizhong with the Hebei Provincial Security Department was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday. The newly arrested dealers were only identified by their surnames as Ma, 40, and Zhao, 43.
Earlier, police said they had arrested two brothers, surnamed Geng, who ran a milk collection center in Hebei province and are accused of adding melamine, Xinhua said. They sold about three tons of contaminated milk a day, the report said.
On Monday, the Health Ministry said a second infant from Gansu province had died of kidney failure after drinking the milk.
Vice Health Minister Ma Xiaowei told reporters that 1,253 infants had been sickened – mainly after developing kidney stones – more than twice the number previously acknowledged. Of those, 913 of the infants were only slightly affected, while 340 remained hospitalized and 53 cases were considered especially severe, he said.
It is the second crisis to raise questions about government accountability in China since the Beijing Olympics ended Aug. 24. At least 254 people died last week when a retaining wall of a waste dump at an illegal mine in northern China collapsed. The Shanxi provincial governor resigned and his deputy was fired.
The incident is an embarrassing failure for China’s product safety system, which was overhauled to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.
It is also the second major case in recent years involving baby formula. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients.
The discovery of the tainted milk is especially damaging because Sanlu Group Co. is China’s biggest producer of powdered milk and such large companies are expected to act as industry role models for safety and quality.
Shoddy and fake goods are common in China, and infants, hospital patients and others have been killed or injured by tainted or fake milk, medicines, liquor and other products.
None of the milk powder was exported to Europe or the United States, although Sanlu is 43 per cent owned by a New Zealand dairy farmers’ cooperative, Fonterra.
Fonterra, the world’s biggest milk trader, says it urged Sanlu to recall the product as early as Aug. 2. Sanlu did not order a recall until last Thursday, after the New Zealand government took up the issue with China.
Chinese officials have defended their response but blamed Sanlu Group for delays in warning the public. Officials say they were not alerted until last week.
Details of the children’s deaths show the problem appeared to have gone undetected for months. The first victim, a five-month-old boy from the western city of Lanzhou, died May 1, ministry officials said. The second, an eight-month-old girl also from Lanzhou, died July 22.
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On the Net:
Sanlu Group: www.sanlu.com
Fonterra Co-operative Group: www.fonterra.com
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/080916/x091608A.html
China’s tainted milk scandal spreads; some products were exported
Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 | 5:44 PM ET
Canadian Press: Tini Tran, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING – China’s latest product safety scandal – tainted milk formula blamed for killing two babies and sickening 1,200 – expanded to include more foods Tuesday, with state media reporting some formula produced by companies involved was exported.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on its evening newscast that a countrywide inspection of the 175 Chinese companies making baby milk powder showed that 22 of them had traces of the industrial chemical melamine in their products.
One company, Guangdong-based Yashili, exported its products to Bangladesh, Yemen and Myanmar, CCTV said, but added that initial testing of samples of the company’s exports turned up no trace of melamine.
In Hong Kong, food inspectors ordered a recall after melamine was found in an ice cream bar made by Shanghai Yili AB Foods. The amounts of the chemical found “would not pose major health effects from normal consumption of the bar, however, small children should not eat it,” the Centre for Food Safety said in a notice posted on its website.
The widening scandal is an embarrassing failure for China’s product safety system, which was overhauled to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.
It is also the second major case in recent years involving baby formula. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phoney formula that contained no nutrients.
The official Xinhua news agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying medical agencies were prepared for the investigation to uncover additional cases and were setting up a treatment system for affected infants.
The company at the heart of the food scandal, Sanlu Group Co., has apologized for the tainted milk powder, which the Health Ministry says was spiked with melamine. The company says suppliers who sold the raw milk apparently added the chemical, normally used in plastics, to make the milk appear higher in protein.
Zhang Zhenling, Sanlu’s vice-president, apologized Monday but did not explain why the company took so long to inform the public about the contamination despite receiving complaints as early as March and having tests confirm the presence of the chemical in early August.
The company went public with the information after its New Zealand stakeholder told the New Zealand government, which then informed the Chinese government.
“The serious safety accident of the Sanlu formula milk powder for infants has caused severe harm to many sickened babies and their families. We feel really sad about this,” Zhang said, reading from a prepared statement.
Sanlu’s general manager Tian Wenhua was fired and dismissed from the company’s board of directors as a result of the scandal, Xinhua quoted Communist party officials as saying in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where the company is based.
In total, four men have been arrested in relation to the tainted milk, spokesman Shi Guizhong with the Hebei Provincial Security Department was quoted as saying. The newly arrested dealers were only identified by their surnames as Ma, 40, and Zhao, 43.
Earlier, police said they had arrested two brothers, surnamed Geng, who ran a milk collection centre in Hebei province and are accused of watering down milk to increase volume then adding melamine, Xinhua said. They sold about three tonnes of contaminated milk a day, the report said.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/080916/x091619A.html
Brothers charged over tainted baby milk
Last Updated: Monday, September 15, 2008 | 11:28 AM ET C
The Associated Press
The uncle of fifteen-month-old Tian Yaowen from Henan province, who is suffering from kidney stones, shows a bag of Sanlu infant formula in a hospital in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Saturday (Associated Press)
Chinese police arrested two brothers in the infant formula scandal that has killed two babies and sickened more than 1,200 others, officials and state media reported Monday.
Investigators suspect the brothers, who run a milk collection centre in Hebei province, first added water to increase the milk’s volume fraudulently and then added melamine to boost the protein level, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The milk was then sold to a company that made infant formula. Melamine is rich in nitrogen and standard tests for protein in food ingredients measure nitrogen levels.
So far, two infant deaths have been linked to contaminated milk powder, 1,253 babies have been sickened and 340 treated in hospital, Ma Xiaowei, vice-health minister, told a news conference.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada have advised consumers to avoid purchasing infant formula originating from China.
The product is not approved for sale in Canada, but officials say it could have been illegally imported and may be for sale in some stores that carry ethnic foods.
Formula made by China’s Sanlu Group
The company that produced the infant formula, Sanlu Group Co., is China’s biggest maker of powdered milk and is 43 per cent owned by a New Zealand dairy farmers’ co-operative, Fonterra.
On Sunday, Fonterra, the world’s biggest milk trader, said it had urged Sanlu to recall the product as early as six weeks ago.
However, Sanlu did not order a recall until last Thursday, even though the company had received complaints as early as March and its own tests in August found the milk powder contained melamine.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday she learned of the problem Sept. 5 and within days had ordered officials to directly inform senior authorities in Beijing. At the time, provincial Chinese officials appeared to be dragging their feet.
“We were the whistleblowers and they leapt in and ensured there was action on the ground,” Clark said. “At a local level … I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall.”
Chinese officials have defended their response to the country’s latest product safety disaster and blamed Sanlu Group for delays in warning the public.
Authorities have seized 2,176 tonnes of milk powder from a Sanlu warehouse and recalled 8,218 tonnes already sent to market, Xinhua said. It said all would be destroyed.
Inspectors will being checking China’s 175 baby milk factories for a report that will be released within two days, said Li Changjiang, head of the safety watchdog.
The incident is an embarrassing failure for China’s product safety system, which was overhauled in an attempt to restore consumer confidence after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.
In 2007, thousands of pets in the U.S. and several in Canada died after eating pet food contaminated with melamine. The pet food, made by Toronto-based Menu Foods, used wheat gluten that originated in China.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/09/15/tainted-milk.html
下文为加西新闻社消息
Tainted formula hunt spreads to Canada
Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, September 15, 2008
OTTAWA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted spot checks at hundreds of retail stores over the weekend and has found no evidence that contaminated infant formula laced with melamine slipped into Canada from China.
Inspectors launched the blitz at nearly 300 stores in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal after news surfaced of tainted infant formula – officially linked on Monday to the deaths of two babies in China and illness in more than 1,250 babies in a widening food safety scandal.
No infant formulas produced in China are approved for sale in Canada, but it’s possible the contaminated product could have been illegally imported to Canada and sold in some stores that carry ethnic foods, said Michel LaBrosse, director of the import control division at CFIA.
As a result, since Friday, inspectors have visited 75 stores in Vancouver, 196 in Toronto, and 18 in Montreal. Inspectors, targeting specialized stores in urban Chinatowns, have not found any infant formula from China on store shelves.
The CFIA is also stepping up checks at the Canadian border. The agency ordered border officials on Monday to block any attempts to import infant formula from China so the agency can test the product. LaBrosse said the agency wanted to “increase to level of vigilance” at the border in light of the food-safety scare in China.
“This is just a double security.”
Chinese authorities announced on Monday the arrest of two men suspected of adding melamine to make the product appear to have higher concentrations of protein.
Chinese dairy producer the Sanlu Group, a joint venture between China and the New Zealand dairy producer Fonterra, issued a recall last Thursday of its infant formula in China.
Government officials from New Zealand and the United States provided word to Ottawa about the contaminated formula on the same day, said LaBrosse.
“Officially, nothing came to us from China,” he added.
In a joint statement issued late Friday, the CFIA and Health Canada warned consumers to avoid purchasing any infant formula originating from China.
China’s investigative business magazine Caijing reported that the Sanlu Group halted sales to retailers on Aug. 6 – on the eve of the Olympic Games – after an internal investigation.
Melamine, commonly used in plastics, fertilizers and cleaning products, boosts nitrogen levels in milk, allowing manufacturers to claim higher protein levels during testing. Melamine was also the source of a rash of animal deaths last year after tainted pet food from China was sold across North America.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=14f31ceb-cc7a-4074-b569-d9f24472dad4
