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Chinese baby milk toll escalates
BBC News ^ | September 17, 2008
Posted on September 17, 2008 1:07:13 AM PDT by Schnucki

More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking formula milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced.

The figure is five times higher than previously announced.

Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China.

Twenty-two brands of powder were found to contain the toxic industrial chemical melamine, apparently added to make it appear higher in protein.

Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with “acute kidney failure” had risen to 158.

Anger on forums

The government has labelled the poisonings a “level one” food safety incident and formed an emergency team to grapple with the fallout.

It is keen to try to reassure parents that it is in control of what is happening, says the BBC’s James Reynolds in Beijing.

This scandal has undermined confidence in food safety in China and many parents are worried about what they will feed their babies, he adds.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...