12 More Arrests In China Milk Scandal

Parents Fear For Children's Safety As Fourth Death Blamed On Formula Tainted With Malamine

(AP)  Hundreds of parents streamed into offices of a dairy company at the heart of a tainted baby formula scandal, demanding refunds and worrying over what was still safe to feed their children.

Other mothers and fathers hovered by youngsters hooked to IVs at hospitals, shocked that the milk powder inside pastel-colored tins contained poison that was causing kidney stones and other problems in their babies.

"We're so disappointed in Sanlu," said 26-year-old Ji Yiqing, whose thin but energetic 11-month-old daughter is being treated at a hospital for two large kidney stones that had fused together. "At the time, we thought they were a better brand ... and now, we don't trust them at all."

Sanlu's baby milk powder, found to contain an industrial chemical called melamine, has been blamed in four deaths. Tainted formula has sickened more than 6,000 babies, with 1,300 hospitalized and 158 suffering from acute kidney failure.

Questions continued to swirl Thursday around the handling of the scandal by Sanlu and government officials.

Sanlu reportedly received complaints over its formula as early as March, but did not immediately inform the public about the contamination and whether the decision had to do with the Beijing Olympics.

China went on high alert against accidents and public disturbances during the August games, and unconfirmed speculation has said Sanlu executives may have been trying to keep the scandal quiet to avoid embarrassment.

Sanlu tests confirmed the presence of melamine early last month, just before the Olympics, which were meant to mark China's emergence on the world stage, kicked off on Aug. 8. Bad news coming out during the high-profile games was strictly taboo.

However, the scandal over tainted formula was not just contained to Sanlu, one of China's best-known and most respected brands. The country's quality control watchdog found that one-fifth of companies producing milk powder in China had melamine in their products.

"Who do you trust? I don't know. If such a big company is having problems, then I really don't know who to trust," said a 31-year-old man surnamed Yang, who was among dozens waiting in line at a Sanlu office compound to be reimbursed for his 7-month-old daughter's health exam that included a kidney ultrasound.

Yang, who refused to give his full name as is common among media-shy Chinese, was holding a bag with a can of Sanlu milk powder which he planned to return for a refund. The formula cost 148 yuan (US$21.60), a significant amount of money for working families in China.

"What happens if something else goes wrong in the future? Is it just kidney stones? What if there are other problems? You just don't know," said Yang, whose daughter checked out fine.

Parents outside the office traded tips on which brands were still considered safe after news that products from China's top dairy producers — Mengnu and Yili — were also found to be tainted.

"Now we have no idea what kind of milk to give the baby. They all have problems," said a woman surnamed Wang, the mother of a one-year-old who had been drinking Sanlu formula for two months. "There are ... brands that are OK but I can't remember the names."

At a nearby Sanlu processing facility, hundreds of people lined up to turn in their milk powder for refunds. Some held just a half-empty pouch, while others hauled in cases of the formula. A red banner over the main door of the plant declared: "Pay attention to food safety, ensure the public's health."

Suppliers to dairy companies are believed to have added the banned chemical melamine, normally used in plastics, to watered-down milk to make it appear higher in protein during testing. Police in northern China's Hebei province, where Sanlu is based, arrested 12 more people by Thursday, bringing the total to 18.

Provincial police spokesman Shi Guizhong said six allegedly sold melamine, while the other 12 were milk suppliers accused of adding the chemical to milk.

The milk scandal is especially damaging because it involves Sanlu, a major food processor which is based in the dusty northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang. The government expects such companies to act as industry role models of safety and quality.

The widening crisis has raised questions about the effectiveness of tighter controls China promised after a series of food safety scares in recent years over contaminated seafood, toothpaste and ingredients for pet food. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients.

The tainted baby formula highlights the changing family dynamics and economic growth in China. A generation ago, women had little choice besides breastfeeding. Now, supermarkets offer dozens of brands of baby formula, allowing women to continue working outside the home even if they have young children.

"As we know in China, young mothers are faced with enormous social pressure, including enormous pressure on their jobs," Health Minister Chen Zhu told reporters this week. "That is why infant formula is being widely used in China."

According to the United Nations Development Program, exclusive breastfeeding rates in China at four months declined to 48 percent in urban areas and 60 percent in rural areas in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics were available.

In comparison, the rate in the U.S. was about 35 percent at six months in 2004, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yao Haoge, the baby with two large kidney stones, had been drinking Sanlu formula since she was born because both of her parents work. They had been puzzled by their little girl's fevers and dark urine, but it never occurred to them that she had kidney stones brought on by milk powder.

Now, like many of the babies in a special ward at the Peace Hospital in Shijiazhuang, Haoge has an IV drip hooked into a vein in her head. The doctors say she needs to stay under observation at the hospital for a week.

"We don't make much money but we wanted to buy good milk powder," said her ruddy-faced father, Yao Weiguan, a day-laborer from a small town an hour's train ride from Shijiazhuang.

Panicked parents across the country were flocking to hospitals, wondering whether their seemingly healthy children had been sickened by Chinese formula.

"I have no choice but to give my son solid foods now even though he still wants the milk formula," said 26-year-old Wang Yucun, who was waiting to get her son checked at the Beijing Children's Hospital. Her 11-month-old Zexun has been drinking Sanlu and Yashili products since birth.

The hospital had given out 1,200 numbers by 2 p.m. and were not giving out any more for the day.

"What I want to know is why the exported milk products and milk products give to Olympic athletes were carefully inspected but the Chinese people have suffer with poor quality products," Wang said. "When I bought Yashili milk powder, I thought I was buying a quality product because it comes with a government seal of approval. At least that's what I had thought until now."

[rf35]

At least we know it''s not just America that they sell sh-tty products to.

[nothappyatall]

They NEED some population control over there anyway

[observer2020]

Regulations? The problem is there are always too many regulations and the solution is always to get rid of regulations.
Posted by gop_will_win
Have you lost your mind? The problem is people go around the regulations and laws...are you one of them? Feed your babies this forumula with a clear mind...I certainly will not.

[stn_sage]

Living in China would be like traversing a minefield everyday in terms of defective and tainted products on their markets----and now ours!

But, one thing for sure, where they beat the U.S.A. hands down! When something does goes wrong, they punish the CEO or manager who was responsible! He gets a good caning, or hanging, or firing squad!
Which is exactly what should be done here in America!

If WE practiced that policy here in the U.S., I highly doubt that we''d be in the current economic problems we currently are in!

[gop_will_win]

Sounds like China needs to clamp down on regulations because now its an internal issue.


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Posted by XmanBorg
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Regulations? The problem is there are always too many regulations and the solution is always to get rid of regulations.

[sepa2]

Sounds like China needs to clamp down on regulations because now its an internal issue.

Posted by XmanBorg
In developing countries the adulterors are protected by corrupt officials and politicians. In a case like this more often the victims are on their on. This case seems to be different due to its seriousness

[xmanborg]

Sounds like China needs to clamp down on regulations because now its an internal issue.

[carlylaine]

Why would anyone buy anything from...We all know how they treat their own people. GAWD!!!!

[dnc4evr89]

Just goes to show, You cant trust anything made in china!!!!!