Milk powder scandal in China grows
BEIJING — The number of infants who Chinese health officials say were sickened by tainted milk powder doubled Monday to more than 1,200 as police announced the first arrests in the spreading scandal.
The Health Ministry said two infants died of kidney failure after drinking Sanlu brand milk powder spiked with the industrial chemical melamine. The company says suppliers who sold it apparently added the chemical, normally used in plastics, to make the milk seem higher in nutrition.
Vice Health Minister Ma Xiaowei told reporters at a news conference that 1,253 infants had been sickened, more than twice the number previously acknowledged. Of those, 913 were only slightly affected, while 340 remained hospitalized, including 53 cases considered especially severe, he said.
Police said they had arrested two brothers, surnamed Geng, who run a milk collection center in Hebei province and are accused of adding melamine, the official Xinhua News Agency said. They sold about 3 tons of contaminated milk a day, the report said, citing Hebei police spokesman Shi Guizhong.
While none of the milk powder was exported to Europe or the United States, the scandal has taken on international dimensions because Sanlu is 43 percent owned by a New Zealand dairy farmers’ cooperative, Fonterra.
Fonterra, the world’s biggest milk trader, said Sunday it had urged Sanlu to recall the product as early as six weeks ago.
