The number of children in China taken ill by dairy products tainted with the banned industrial chemical melamine has jumped to nearly 53,000, the government said on Sunday as it vowed to crack down on those responsible for one of China`s worst food safety scandals in years.
More than 80 percent of the 12,892 children hospitalised in recent weeks were 2 years old or younger, the Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its website late Sunday. Four children have died and 104 of the hospitalized children are in serious condition.
Another 39,965 children received outpatient treatment at hospitals and were considered `basically recovered,` the Ministry said.
The Health Ministry said that most of the hospitalised were sickened by powdered milk and baby formula. It said most of the sick children consumed baby formula from one company, the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co. The dairy is at the center of the scandal.
`The hospitalised children basically consumed Sanlu brand infant milk powder. No cases have been found from ingesting liquid milk,` said the Ministry statement.
Text and Images: AP
Image: Chinese families with their babies rush to a hospital for checkups in Chongqing. Nearly 53,000 children in China have been sickened by milk powder contaminated by an industrial chemical, the government said on Monday, dramatically ramping up its previous figures. (Copyright AP Any unauthorised reproduction is prohibited)
