The New Nation - Internet Edition

More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking formula milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced. The figure is five times higher than previously announced. Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China. Twenty-two brands of powder were found to contain the toxic industrial chemical melamine, apparently added to make it appear higher in protein. Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with "acute kidney failure" had risen to 158. The government has labelled the poisonings a "level one" food safety incident and formed an emergency team to grapple with the fallout.