China launches investigation of tainted formula

Tied to baby's death, kidney ailments of 50

HONG KONG - China's health ministry announced yesterday a nationwide probe into the safety of all infant formulas, as a team of investigators from six government agencies descended on the milk powder factory that produced formula now linked to one baby's death and kidney problems in at least 50 more.

The producer of the suspect formula, the Sanlu Group, recalled 700 tons of its formula after determining on Thursday that it had been contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical.

The official Xinhua news agency cited Zhao Xinchao, the vice mayor of Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, where Sanlu is based, as saying that police have already questioned 78 people, including dairy farmers and milk dealers. The police suspect that some of them may have diluted milk with water so as to increase the total volume for sale to Sanlu, and then added melamine to disguise the dilution, Zhao told the news agency.

A common industrial test for the protein content of dairy products or animal feed gives an inaccurately high reading if melamine is present.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said that no infant formula from China has been approved for import. But the FDA advised consumers to be cautious since limited quantities might have found their way into some ethnic grocery stores.

The police suspicion in China that dairy farmers used melamine could also force a broader examination of foods imported from China that contain milk. The discovery of contaminated infant formula in China is a setback for the country's efforts to reassure its own citizenry and overseas buyers that the "made in China" label is trustworthy after a series of incidents involving everything from toxic toy beads to poisonous cough syrup.

Contamination with melamine is especially embarrassing for the Chinese authorities. Pet food made from Chinese ingredients contaminated with melamine killed thousands of pets last year in the United States, and the Chinese government promised at the time that it would prevent melamine from entering food products for people.

For people in China, the death of a baby from tainted infant formula also brings to mind a national scandal four years ago in which 13 infants died after drinking substandard formula that carried the Sanlu brand name but had been produced by counterfeiters.

China's health ministry promised "serious punishment" yesterday for those found responsible for the presence of melamine in the formula. The majority of the babies who have fallen sick had definitely been fed the Sanlu formula, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Top Chinese doctors have been asked to perform urgent research into treatment for babies suffering from kidney stones and kidney failure after drinking the formula, the ministry also said. Doctors across the country were ordered to report any further cases of babies with kidney problems.

China also reported the problem to the World Health Organization, in an apparent attempt to improve its reputation for transparency in health issues.

China hid the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, for four months in late 2002 and early 2003, drawing international criticism when the disease spread to Hong Kong and then around the world.

A team of doctors and investigators showed up at Sanlu's factory yesterday from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; the ministry of agriculture; the ministry of public security; the health ministry; the State Administration for Industry and Commerce; and the State Food and Drug Administration, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Sanlu ordered its recall and promised its own investigation after determining that samples of its formula manufactured before Aug. 6 had been contaminated with melamine.