Safety tests for baby milk powder
By Wang Xiang |
August 11, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A MILK powder said to have caused infants to develop breasts is being investigated by the Ministry of Health.
Ministry spokesman Deng Haihua said food safety authorities in Wuhan City were testing samples of the milk powder made by Synutra, a Qingdao-based dairy company.
Its formula has been blamed for having caused unusually early puberty in babies as young as one year old.
Local food safety authorities had earlier refused a parent's request to investigate the milk, saying that they do not accept testing requests from individuals, the Oriental Morning Post reported.
Deng said early development of breasts could be a natural phenomenon. He said two out of every 1,000 female infants would show symptoms such as developing breasts.
He said even experts could not determine the cause of precocious puberty as there were too many factors that could be at work.
Three infants in central China's Wuhan City were reported to have started to grow breasts after they were fed with Synutra milk. Later, several cases emerged in Guangdong, Jiangxi and Shanxi provinces. One baby girl had the estrogen levels (a female hormone) of a grown woman.
A new case was reported in Beijing on Monday, The Beijing Times reported.
The company said in a new statement yesterday that its products were safe. It said some of its milk was imported from foreign farms, and there was no chance that hormones could be added during production. It said on Monday that it was to sue Phoenix Television for its "unscientific, not genuine and deliberately misinterpreting" reports that damaged the company's reputation.
Chen Lianfang, an analyst with food business consulting company BOABC, said the scandal could affect the sales of Synutra even if the allegations prove unfounded.
But if investigation found the company was at fault, Synutra might face bankruptcy like Sanlu, the dairy company at the center of the melamine in milk scandal in 2008.
Meanwhile, many hospitals in south China's Guangzhou City have stopped feeding new-born babies with Synutra milk because of parents' concerns, yesterday's Nanfang Daily reported.
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