Source:
Associated PressBEIJING – China's Health Ministry said six babies may have died after consuming tainted milk powder, up from a previous official toll of three, and announced a six-fold increase in its tally of infants sickened in the scandal to nearly 300,000.
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The crisis has been met with public dismay and anger, particularly among parents who feel the government breached their trust after their children were sickened or died from drinking infant formula authorities had certified as safe.
The latest statistics show that China's communist leaders are slowly acknowledging the breadth of China's worst food safety scare in years. During such crises, the government often deliberately releases information piecemeal in part to keep from feeding public anger.
The ministry said in a statement late Monday that 294,000 babies across the country had suffered from urinary problems after consuming milk powder laced with melamine.
"Most of the sickened children received outpatient treatment only for small amounts of sand-like kidney stones found in their urinary systems, while some patients had to be hospitalized for the illness," the statement said.
Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_tainted_milk
yet, the FDA (under Bush) thinks this is grand
these people can't get shown the door fast enough