China alarm spreads over toxic baby milk
By Clifford Coonan in
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
阿杰按:
这是英国独立报前天关于中国三鹿奶粉事件的报道,转载如下,供大家学习。
注:并不代表本人认同其中观点哈。
China alarm spreads over toxic baby milk
By Clifford Coonan in
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
The nerves of
So far two children have died of kidney failure and 1,200 more have developed kidney stones from drinking the toxic formula, and thousands more Chinese children may yet fall ill, the government warned.
"Hospitals should try their best to meet rising demands for diagnosis and treatment because the number of parents who take their children for medical check-ups could rise drastically in the future," Deputy Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said in a tele-conference with regional health officials.
A government health probe showed 20 per cent of dairy companies had produced batches of milk containing melamine, an industrial chemical added to milk to make it seem like it had a higher protein content.
The scandal is the latest crisis to affect
Hong Kong's biggest supermarket chain Wellcome yesterday withdrew a yoghurt ice-cream bar produced by
Wellcome said in a statement it would stop selling all Yili brand ice cream as a precaution, although other Yili products would stay on sale.
Chinese health officials began a probe into all baby milk powders after reports of children in at least seven provinces developing kidney stones after drinking tainted formula produced by the Sanlu Group.
The results of the probe have shocked Chinese consumers. Out of 109 dairy producers checked, 22 had been found to have produced batches of milk contaminated with melamine, including major Olympic Games sponsor Yili, and Mengniu, which became a hugely popular brand following its sponsorship of the "Supergirl" contest,
No tainted product had been supplied overseas, or supplied to the Olympics or Paralympics.
Sanlu has since admitted that it knew of the contamination in early August, more than a month before the public recall issued last week.
There had been complaints to the company since March that babies' urine was discoloured and that some had been admitted to hospital after drinking the formula.
Sanlu chairwoman Tian Wenhua has been sacked over the scandal. Some commentators have suggested that nothing was done to investigate the claims as the company and local officials did not want any bad publicity during the Olympic Games, when the world's eyes were on
Two more men were arrested in
Melamine can make the protein level in dairy products appear higher than it is. The chemical, used to make plastics, was found in exported pet food last year and blamed for killing thousands of cats and dogs in the