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Fonterra says ready to help in China after milk scandal exposed

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-18 17:11

Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy trader, said Wednesday that it wants to help as the Chinese government has stepped in to ensure the health of children in the aftermath of the baby milk powder scandal.

"Fonterra wants to do whatever it can to help the situation in China," the New Zealand Press Association quoted Fonterra's chief executive Andrew Ferrier as saying.

"Right now, we understand the Chinese government has stepped in and is looking after the health of the children. We will see ... if there's something else we can do," Ferrier told a press conference in Auckland.

The New Zealand dairy giant, which owns 43 percent of China's dairy giant Sanlu Group, said Tuesday that its own Chinese business had voluntarily recalled one batch of Anmum Materna milk.

"This particular batch had been manufactured and distributed under licence by Sanlu using what we believe to be contaminated local raw milk," the company said.

The batch of Anmum Materna was distributed in the Chinese mainland. There was no distribution in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. "None of the batch in question was exported," according to the company.

The Chinese government said Wednesday the third fatality occurred in the southeastern Zhejiang Province. As of 8 a.m. in the day, 6,244 infants in China were found ill after consuming the tainted formula, including 158 with acute kidney failure, of which 94 were in a stable condition.

Most of the babies developed urinary problems, such as kidney stones, after consuming Sanlu milk powder for three to six months.

The kidney stones are caused by melamine, a chemical banned in the food industry. Melamine is rich in nitrogen and registers high protein levels. Investigators say some milk dealers allegedly added the chemical to raw milk so that the protein content appeared higher than it actually was.

The Chinese government has launched a multi-department investigation into the scandal, vowing to punish offenders according to law.