More food in China found with unsafe chemical levels - USATODAY.com

More food in China found with unsafe chemical levels - USATODAY.com:

"HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong supermarkets stripped shelves of a popular cookie brand made in China on Friday after Macau authorities found excessive amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in the product.

The removal of the chocolate-filled cookies came after Macau's Health Bureau found Thursday the amount of melamine in the Koala's March brand was 24 times the safe limit.

The grocery store Wellcome removed the brand made by Japan's Lotte China Foods Co. from shelves Friday, spokeswoman Annie Sin said. Another chain, PARKnSHOP, also pulled the company's cookies."

Chinese milk powder sickens 53,000 kids

ABC News: China's Product Safety Watchdog Steps Down:

"The head of China's food safety watchdog resigned Monday for failing to stop the widespread contamination of baby formula as the number of children sickened in the scandal soared to nearly 53,000, including four infants who died.

The shake-up came as investigators revealed that China's biggest producer of powdered milk, Sanlu Group Co., had received complaints as early as December 2007 linking its infant formula to illnesses in babies. Months later, tests revealed the milk was tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which causes kidney stones and can lead to kidney failure."

More Than 12,000 Chinese Children Sick From Milk

FOXNews.com - More Than 12,000 Chinese Children Sick From Milk

"BEIJING — China's tally of the number of children sickened by tainted milk products has doubled to nearly 12,900 as the government confronts a scandal over widespread contamination of the milk supply.

More than 80 percent of the 12,892 children hospitalized in recent weeks were 2 years old or younger, the Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site late Sunday. The statement said most consumed infant formula from one company, the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the center of one of China's worst food safety scandals in years.

Over the weekend, the Chinese territory of Hong Kong reported the first known illness outside mainland China — a 3-year-old girl who developed kidney stones after drinking Chinese dairy products. She was discharged from the hospital, a Hong Kong government statement said.

In the two weeks since the government first acknowledged the contamination, it has issued recalls for dairy products from 22 companies after tests turned up traces of the industrial chemical melamine. The Health Ministry said that most of the hospitalized were sickened by powdered milk and formula."

China worries about long-term effects of bad milk

China worries about long-term effects of bad milk | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters:

"SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Chinese parents agonised on Tuesday about the long-term health effects that their children could suffer after consuming formula milk which the government has confirmed was contaminated with a toxic chemical."

Chinese Baby Formula Scandal Widens - NYTimes.com

Chinese Baby Formula Scandal Widens - NYTimes.com:

"BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Health on Monday announced that two babies have died in recent months and 1,253 others have been sickened by contaminated milk powder in a widening food safety scandal that has exposed persistent weaknesses in the country’s regulatory system.

More than 340 infants remain hospitalized, including 53 in serious condition. Inspection teams are visiting dairy farms and processing centers in the country’s four main milk-producing provinces to ensure that producers are not violating safety standards.

The Chinese authorities have confirmed that the tainted baby formula was laced with melamine, a chemical additive sometimes used to make plastics and fertilizer. Last year, after thousands of pets became ill in the United States, the same chemical was found in pet food and traced to a Chinese ingredient.

The tainted milk powder has been traced to the Sanlu Group, one of China’s biggest dairy producers, which operates as a joint venture with a New Zealand-based dairy conglomerate, Fonterra. China does not export milk powder to the United States."

Chinese-made uniforms withdrawn after skin irritations

Chinese-made uniforms withdrawn after skin irritations:

"An Australian power company has withdrawn more than 3,000 Chinese-made protective uniforms after staff complained of skin irritations.

Ergon Energy says there will be no more uniforms worn in the field from close of business today.

The Electrical Trades Union says more than 250 Ergon Energy workers had broken out in rashes and some had vomited after wearing the flame-retardant suits.

Ergon says as soon as staff reported skin irritations it advised them to seek medical advice.

The company says independent scientific tests are being conducted on the uniforms and it has advised its suppliers to do the same.

Chinese manufacturers have been hit with a series of product recalls in the past year, involving millions of toys, cell phones and food products."

FDA warns on Chinese-made infant formula - MarketWatch

FDA warns on Chinese-made infant formula - MarketWatch:

"The Food and Drug Administration warned early Friday that consumers should avoid infant formulas manufactured in China. The agency advised that some Chinese-made formulas have been suspected of containing the chemical melamine, which can cause the formulation of kidney stones in babies. Currently, no Chinese manufacturers are approved to sell baby formula in the U.S. However, the agency said that Chinese-made formula may be on shelves in the U.S. in specialty stores serving the Asian community."