kingclick
06-09-2004, 04:23 PM
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - One baby died and 20 were hospitalized with severe malnutrition in eastern China after drinking low-quality milk powder, a state newspaper said Wednesday, two months after a nationwide crackdown on fake infant formula.
The infants in Suqian, a city northwest of Shanghai, suffered from swelling and anemia, both symptoms of severe malnutrition, the Legal Daily newspaper reported. Two twins were so swollen that their eyes were sunken and doctors were unable to draw blood from their limbs, said the newspaper, published by China's Justice Ministry. It said two infants still were being treated and 18 had been released. The cases in Suqian, in Jiangsu province, follow a crackdown ordered by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after at least a dozen infants died from malnutrition blamed on counterfeit formula in Fuyang, a city in neighbouring Anhui province. On Wednesday in Fuyang, Mayor Liu Qingqiang was reprimanded by the governing Communist party for failing to supervise food safety, while Vice-Mayor Ma Mingyue was asked to resign, state media reported. Other local leaders were also disciplined by the party, including the head of the health bureau and the head of industry and commerce, Xinhua news agency and China Central Television reported. In the continuing crackdown, authorities have banned 55 brands of cheap milk powder after they were found to contain only tiny fractions of the required amounts of protein and other nutrients.
Inspectors in Suqian found two brands on sale that contained as little as 1.5 per cent nutrients, the Legal Daily said. The national standard is 12 to 20 per cent. Investigators say the inferior milk powder is mostly starch, flour and sugar.
The powders' containers listed fake addresses and phone numbers for manufacturers, the newspaper said, adding that authorities were trying to trace them through shops that sold the products. The victims of low-quality foods and medicine sold in China are often the country's poorest people. Many parents of malnourished children were too poor to take them to hospitals. They died and were buried at home. Two officials have been arrested for covering up the malnutrition death of a baby girl in Anhui. At least 229 infants there suffered from malnutrition after drinking low-quality formula.
Does this support the concept of prescription only formulas? Does this change your view on the responsiblity of companies to honestly portray what their product is made of?
The infants in Suqian, a city northwest of Shanghai, suffered from swelling and anemia, both symptoms of severe malnutrition, the Legal Daily newspaper reported. Two twins were so swollen that their eyes were sunken and doctors were unable to draw blood from their limbs, said the newspaper, published by China's Justice Ministry. It said two infants still were being treated and 18 had been released. The cases in Suqian, in Jiangsu province, follow a crackdown ordered by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after at least a dozen infants died from malnutrition blamed on counterfeit formula in Fuyang, a city in neighbouring Anhui province. On Wednesday in Fuyang, Mayor Liu Qingqiang was reprimanded by the governing Communist party for failing to supervise food safety, while Vice-Mayor Ma Mingyue was asked to resign, state media reported. Other local leaders were also disciplined by the party, including the head of the health bureau and the head of industry and commerce, Xinhua news agency and China Central Television reported. In the continuing crackdown, authorities have banned 55 brands of cheap milk powder after they were found to contain only tiny fractions of the required amounts of protein and other nutrients.
Inspectors in Suqian found two brands on sale that contained as little as 1.5 per cent nutrients, the Legal Daily said. The national standard is 12 to 20 per cent. Investigators say the inferior milk powder is mostly starch, flour and sugar.
The powders' containers listed fake addresses and phone numbers for manufacturers, the newspaper said, adding that authorities were trying to trace them through shops that sold the products. The victims of low-quality foods and medicine sold in China are often the country's poorest people. Many parents of malnourished children were too poor to take them to hospitals. They died and were buried at home. Two officials have been arrested for covering up the malnutrition death of a baby girl in Anhui. At least 229 infants there suffered from malnutrition after drinking low-quality formula.
Does this support the concept of prescription only formulas? Does this change your view on the responsiblity of companies to honestly portray what their product is made of?