The Chinese company whose tainted baby milk triggered a food safety crisis that has seen 53,000 children fall ill failed to report complaints about the product for months, state media said Tuesday.
Sanlu Group, the dairy firm first found to be selling melamine-contaminated goods, began receiving complaints of sick children as early as last December, state television said, citing a cabinet probe.
It also said Communist officials in the north Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, delayed referring the matter to higher authorities for more than a month after Sanlu finally told them of the problem on August 2.
"In the eight months from December 2007 to August 2, 2008, Sanlu made no report to relevant authorities in Shijiazhuang and took no corrective measures, allowing the situation to worsen further," the report on state-run CCTV's news channel said.
"(Sanlu and Shijiazhuang officials) violated rules on reporting major incidents involving food safety," it added, quoting the cabinet probe.
The report appeared to be the first official confirmation of Chinese media reports that news of the risks posed by the milk products was deliberately suppressed.
Reports of tainted milk only emerged in state-run media earlier this month.
The chemical melamine, normally used in making plastics, was apparently added to milk supplies to give the appearance of higher protein levels.
Although it knew kids were falling ill last December, Sanlu Group did not even begin testing its milk for dangerous substances until June, the cabinet probe reportedly found.
The government has blamed tainted products for four deaths, and said late Sunday that 12,892 children remained hospitalised with kidney problems, 104 of them in serious condition.
Meanwhile the repercussions outside mainland China continued to mount, with Hong Kong authorities reporting a second child ill with a kidney stone after drinking contaminated Chinese dairy products.
The four-year-old boy was in stable condition, the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection said in a statement.
A three-year-old girl who fell ill last week in the southern Chinese territory was the first such case outside the mainland. She is said to be in good condition.
The Philippines and Vietnam on Tuesday became the latest countries to take precautionary steps.
Authorities in Manila ordered an immediate ban on the import and sale of Chinese dairy products.
"What we are telling parents now, especially the mothers, is to avoid buying milk with 'made in China' markings," said Leticia Gutierrez, the head of the country's Bureau of Food and Drugs.
Vietnam has ordered melamine tests on dairy products and tighter inspections on "all milk products and materials in the market, especially those imported from China."
Bangladesh, Brunei, Burundi, Gabon, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan and Tanzania have already either barred Chinese milk products or taken some other form of action to curb consumption.
The scandal claimed its biggest political scalp so far on Monday with the resignation of China's product-safety watchdog chief, Li Changjiang.
Also sacked was Wu Xianguo, the top Communist official in Shijiazhuang. The city's mayor and several other government officials had been fired earlier.
Eighteen people have been arrested so far, including the sacked head of Sanlu Group, and dozens detained for questioning, according to state media.
China has been hit by a wave of embarrassing scandals in recent years over dangerous products including food, drugs and toys, spoiling its manufacturing reputation.
The China Daily quoted a food safety expert warning of further disasters.
"If the safety supervision mechanism is not reformed, it's likely that such a scandal would break out again," warned Chen Junshi, a senior researcher with China's National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety.
Agence France-Presse - 9/23/2008 7:35 AM GMT
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