Investigators believe dairy farmers added a dangerous chemical to milk that has been linked to kidney stones in dozens of babies and one death in China’s latest product safety scandal.

The government vowed “serious punishment” on Friday after China’s biggest milk powder producer recalled 700 tons of baby formula. The official Xinhua News Agency said the powder was tainted with melamine, a toxic chemical used in plastics that contaminated pet food last year.

U.S. authorities warned American consumers to avoid all Chinese infant formula. Although Chinese formula is not approved for import into the United States, it might be sold at ethnic grocery stores, the Food and Drug Administration said.

A New Zealand company that owns a stake in the Chinese producer said it believed none of the powder was exported from China.

The producer, Sanlu Group, knew about the contamination Aug. 6 but refrained from telling the public, said a company manager, Su Changsheng, quoted on the Web site of Caijing, a leading Chinese business magazine. Su said Sanlu kept silent because some grocers refused to return tainted powder.

A separate Xinhua report said investigators believed dairy farmers were to blame. People who answered the phone at Sanlu said managers were not available to comment.

Authorities are questioning 78 people suspected in the contamination, Xinhua said.

“The suspects added water to the milk they sold to Sanlu to make more money,” Xinhua said, citing deputy mayor Zhao Xinchao of Shijiazhuang, the city where Sanlu is based. “They also added melamine so that the diluted milk could still meet standards.”

'Serious punishment'
Su, the Sanlu manager, said the chemical might have been added to make the milk’s protein content appear higher, according to Caijing. Melamine is nitrogen-rich, and standard tests for protein in bulk food ingredients measure levels of nitrogen.

“Those responsible will face serious punishment,” said a Health Ministry spokesman, Mao Qunan, quoted by Xinhua.

The tainted formula sent 59 babies in northwest China’s Gansu province — most less than a year old — to the hospital and one baby died, Xinhua reported. Other cases were also being reported across the country.

Investigators found melamine in the urine and kidney stones of the sick babies, Xinhua said, citing a government investigation team.

Lu Yuan, a urologist with the No. 1 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, told Xinhua that 14 sick babies were brought into her facility in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province.

“Most of the babies looked worn-out and had a fever when they arrived at the hospital. Some didn’t produce any urine for two to three days and were in very serious condition,” she was quoted as saying. She said eight babies remained hospitalized, while six had been treated and released.

It was the second prominent case involving harmful baby formula in China in recent years. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients. Some 40 companies were found to be making phony formula and 47 people were arrested.

The reputation of Chinese exports was battered last year by deaths and injuries blamed on tainted toothpaste and other products. The incidents damaged faith abroad in Chinese goods and sparked an overhaul of its regulatory system.

Sanlu has 18 percent of China’s market for milk powder, according to government data. The company says it produces 6,800 tons of milk a day and buys milk from suppliers that include 60,000 farming households.

Sanlu became the dairy supplier to China’s space program in June and might provide milk for astronauts on the country’s upcoming third manned space flight.

The Health Ministry said Friday it was launching a nationwide investigation. It told local officials to report all possible cases and said it is “is urgently organizing experts to conduct research and treatment.”

The milk powder is sold in China under the name Sanlu Bei Bei Infant Powder.

“We understand that the product involved is only sold in China,” Fonterra Co-operative Group, a New Zealand dairy farmers’ group that owns 43 percent of Sanlu, said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

中國最近的食品安全丑聞造成了一名嬰幼兒死亡，多名嬰幼兒患上了腎結石。調查人員認為，造成這些結果的原因是牛奶場的農民違規向牛奶中違規添加了危險的化學物質。

星期五，在中國最大的奶粉生產商宣布召回700噸含有有毒物質的嬰幼兒奶粉后，中國政府宣稱將對此事做出嚴厲的處罰。官方新華社的報道稱：這些奶粉中被查出含有三聚氰胺。這是一種用于塑料生產的有毒化學物質。去年，這種物質曾被發現用于寵物飼料中。

美國政府告誡美國消費者避免使用所有中國生產的嬰幼兒食品。食物和藥品管理局宣稱，雖然中國生產的嬰幼兒食品在美國未獲得進口許可，但在少數中國移民密集的城市食品雜貨店里中仍有銷售。

具一家持有該奶粉公司股份的新西蘭公司稱，這些奶粉絕對沒有從中國出口過。

在中國領軍商業雜志《財經》的網站上，“三鹿公司”的經理蘇長深表示，其公司在8月6號就知道奶粉可能受到了污染，但一直未向公眾透漏事件的真相。他說，保持沉默的主要原因是一些經銷商拒絕回收這些被污染的奶粉。

另一則新華社的報道稱，調查人員認為奶農應對此事件負責。但在電話采訪三鹿公司的經理層時，工作人員卻以不方便做任何評論拒絕。

新華社稱，警方正在對此次事件的78名嫌疑人員進行傳喚調查。

“嫌疑人為了賺取更大的利潤，便向原奶中加水后賣給三鹿公司。”新華社援引石家莊市副市長趙新朝的話說。“他們為了使沖淡后的鮮奶符合收購要求，便向奶中加入了三聚氰胺。”

“嚴厲懲處”

具蘇長深在《財經》雜志透露，奶制品的蛋白質含量目前依靠檢測氮含量，奶農向鮮奶中添加三聚氰胺來提高氮含量。

新華社援引衛生部發言人毛群安的話說：“將嚴處毒奶粉事件的責任人。”

新華社稱，這些受污染的奶粉造成了中國西北部甘肅省的59名嬰幼兒入院治療，大多數都不滿一歲，其中還造成了一名嬰兒死亡。在全國其它地方同樣還有毒奶粉事件的報告。

中國人民解放軍第一醫院泌尿科醫師盧元告訴新華社記者，14名患兒被送到了其在甘肅省蘭州市所的醫院。

 “大多數小孩到醫院時都是精神萎靡，而且還發高燒。有一些有兩三天沒有小便，情況很嚴重。”他說，其中6名嬰兒已經康復出院，另外8名還在繼續治療當中。

 這是中國近年來第二次比較有影響的嬰幼兒食品含毒事件。在2004年，200多名中國嬰幼兒因為食用了假冒的不含任何營養成分的奶粉而營養不良，其中至少造成12人死亡。有40家公司涉嫌生產假冒偽劣嬰幼兒食品。47人被逮捕。

中國出口產品的名聲早在去年就因為被指責出口受污染的牙膏和其它產品而敗壞。該事件損毀了中國產品在國外的信譽度，同時也掀起了其對食品生產系統的徹底檢查。

政府數據顯示，三鹿擁有中國奶粉銷售市場的18%的市場份額。公司稱其每天的生產能力是6800噸。鮮奶主要從供應商處購買，這其中還包括60，000家奶農。

三鹿在六月份成為了中國航天航天乳飲料及乳粉的專業生產企業。而且可能在中國即將發射的第三艘載人航天飛船時為航天員提夠專用飲用奶。

衛生部已組織聯合調查組開展該事件的調查處理，并在全國范圍內對可能由此造成的嬰幼兒患病情況進行全面調查，同時緊急組織專家研究制定了診療方案。

這種含毒奶粉是以“三鹿貝貝嬰幼兒奶粉”的名稱在中國銷售的 。

據悉，擁有三鹿43%股份的控股企業，新西蘭恒天然集團在給美聯社的一封郵件里提到：“所有這些有問題的產品都僅僅在中國境內銷售。”