By Ian Ransom
BEIJING (Reuters) - Tainted milk formula has killed onebaby and caused the development of kidney stones in dozens ofothers who may have drunk the same product, Chinese authoritiesconcluded on Thursday, in a grim reminder of a milk-powderscandal that killed 13 infants four years ago.
Traces of cyanuramide, which can cause kidney stones, werefound in Sanlu-brand milk formula, the Ministry of Health saidlate on Thursday. The Sanlu Group issued an immediate recall ofmilk formula made before Aug 6.
Doctors in Gansu Province, in northwestern China, told theXinhua news agency this week that "fake milk powder" from onebrand could have been responsible for kidney stones developingin 14 patients, all infants under 11 months.
Parents of the affected babies, mostly from poor and remoteareas, said they had bought the powder much more cheaply thanusual, Xinhua said.
Gansu health authorities were aware of the problem as earlyas July 16, after a local hospital reported seeing 16 babieswith kidney stones who had all drunk the same brand of formula,Xinhua said, without explaining the delay in disclosure.
Dozens of other cases of babies developing kidney stoneshad been reported in Gansu this year, after none was reportedin 2006 and 2007. It was unclear whether they had drunk thesame brand of milk formula.
Cases of babies developing kidney stones had since emergedin two other hospitals in Gansu and also in Jiangsu, Shandong,Hunan, Anhui, Ningxia and Shaanxi, Xinhua said.
A Sanlu Group spokesman surnamed Cui said the milk powdermay have been mislabelled and that "someone" might becounterfeiting their product, Xinhua said.
Sanlu Group, based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, ispartly owned by New Zealand dairy export giant FonterraCo-operative Group Ltd. In a statement carried by the NewZealand Press Association, Fonterra said its Chinese partnerwas moving to ensure its products were safe.
Sanlu has previously been involved in quality scandals.Authorities in the northern port city of Tianjin seizedhundreds of cases of mislabelled Sanlu-brand yoghurt in 2005.
Kidney stones are small, solid masses that form when saltsor minerals normally found in urine crystallise inside thekidney.
If they become large enough, they can move out of thekidney, cause infection and lead to permanent kidney damage.
In 2004, at least 13 babies in eastern Anhui province diedafter drinking fake milk powder that investigators later foundhad no nutritional value, a scandal that rocked the country andtriggered widespread investigations into food and healthsafety.
China is the world's second-biggest market for baby milkpowder.
(Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby; editing by NickMacfie and Roger Crabb)
