China says dairy firm knew of toxic milk for
months
AFP - 59 minutes ago
BEIJING (AFP) - - The Chinese company whose tainted
baby milk triggered a food safety crisis that has seen 53,000
children fall ill failed to report complaints about the product for
months, state media said Tuesday.
Sanlu Group, the dairy firm first found to be selling
melamine-contaminated goods, began receiving complaints of sick
children as early as last December, state television said, citing a
cabinet probe.
It also said Communist officials in the northern city of
Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, delayed referring the matter to
higher authorities for more than a month after Sanlu finally told
them of the problem on August 2.
"In the eight months from December 2007 to August 2, 2008, Sanlu
made no report to relevant authorities in Shijiazhuang and took no
corrective measures, allowing the situation to worsen further," the
report on state-run CCTV's news channel said, quoting the cabinet
probe.
The report appeared to be the first official admission that news
of the health risks was deliberately suppressed.
Reports of tainted milk only emerged in state-run media earlier
this month.
The chemical melamine, normally used in making plastics, was
apparently added to milk supplies to give the appearance of higher
protein levels.
Sanlu Group did not begin testing its milk for dangerous
substances until June, the cabinet probe reportedly found.
The government has blamed tainted products for four deaths, and
said Sunday that nearly 13,000 children remained hospitalised with
kidney stones or other problems, 104 of them in serious
condition.
With several countries slapping bans on Chinese dairy-based
products, the government announced new steps to limit the fallout
from the latest safety scare to tarnish the nation's exports.
The commerce ministry ordered tighter quality checks on export
goods such as food, drugs, toys and furniture products, the
official Xinhua news agency said.
The agriculture ministry ordered its departments to use "severe
discipline" in stepping up supervision of milk brokers blamed for
adding the chemical.
"Departments at all levels must ... put these milk collectors in
order and strengthen supervision. The mission must be completed to
the letter," Minister Sun Zhengcai said in comments posted on the
ministry's website.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities reported Tuesday two more
children have fallen ill in the city with kidney stones after
drinking Chinese dairy products, taking the sick total there to
four.
A dozen Asian and African countries have either barred Chinese
milk products or taken some other form of action to curb
consumption.
"What we are telling parents now, especially the mothers, is to
avoid buying milk with 'made in China' markings," said Leticia
Gutierrez, the head of the Bureau of Food and Drugs in the
Philippines.
She spoke after announcing a ban on the import and sale of
Chinese milk products.
Malaysia on Tuesday widened an earlier ban to include candies,
chocolates and all Chinese-made food containing milk, a top
official said.
Vietnam and Bangladesh also took new measures to ban imports of
Chinese dairy products and warn consumers against using such
products still on store shelves.
In Japan, a petition by the country's regional governors urged
the central government to suspend imports of all Chinese dairy
products, saying "people's distrust is growing over food made in
China."
The scandal forced the resignation Monday of China's
product-safety watchdog chief, Li Changjiang, whose tenure
coincided with a wave of recent safety scandals involving food,
drugs, toys and other goods, many of them exported.
Also sacked was Wu Xianguo, the top Communist official in
Shijiazhuang. The city's mayor and several other government
officials had been fired earlier.
Eighteen people have been arrested so far, including the sacked
head of Sanlu Group, and dozens detained for questioning, according
to state media.
Although Sanlu was the first company embroiled in the scandal,
subsequent government tests found melamine in the products of 22
other Chinese dairy manufacturers.
Investors on Tuesday punished the shares of top Chinese dairy
makers that were implicated, with Mengniu Dairy falling more than
60 percent in trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
In Shanghai, shares of Yili Industrial and Guangming Dairy and
Food plunged the maximum 10 percent trading limit
