Chinese Parents Crowd Hospitals, Fear Tainted Milk

SHIJIAZHUANG, China — Thousands of parents anxious over tainted baby milk powder rushed their infants to hospitals for health checks on Thursday as the government said that a fourth child had died in the scandal that has engulfed one-fifth of the nation's formula makers.
 
Twenty percent of Chinese companies that produce milk powder have been found with products tainted by the banned industrial chemical melamine, including the two biggest dairies. More than 6,000 babies have been sickened by the tainted formula.

Melamine, used in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants, has no nutritional value but is high in nitrogen, making products with it appear higher in protein — a way to cut costs for the manufacturer.

At the Beijing Children's Hospital, more than 1,000 parents waited for check-ups as they carried their sleeping infants and toddlers. By 2 p.m, doctors had seen only half of the 1,200 who waited in line.

Parents said their children had been drinking three major brands of baby milk powder, all of which have been recalled after government tests found melamine.

Source: The Associated Press