China on Monday launched a nationwide inspection of dairy producing facilities focusing on milk collecting centers as the number of babies sickened by tainted milk powder rose to 580, state media reported.
New Zealand's prime minister, meanwhile, said she ordered that senior Chinese officials in Beijing be told about China's tainted milk problem because local Chinese officials had stalled calls for a full recall of the infant formula, reported Associated Press.
The contaminated milk powder sold by Sanlu Group Co., China's biggest milk powder producer, has caused about 580 babies to develop kidney stones, according to China Daily newspaper. The newspaper cited Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
The number of sickened babies stood at 432 on Saturday, according to Health Minister Gao Qiang. One baby reportedly died.
Chinese officials have defended their response to the country's latest product safety disaster, saying authorities have detained 19 people and are questioning 78 others about how the banned chemical melamine was added to milk sold to Sanlu.
The 19 people who have been detained are from private milk collecting stations, Li said in the China Daily report. "We believe the contamination is more likely to have occurred at milk collecting stations," Li said.
The General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Sunday deployed groups of officials to Hebei, Guangdong and Heilongjiang provinces and the Inner Mongolia region to inspect dairy companies. The teams will also work with local officials in removing all substandard milk powder from the market.
In a quality supervision laboratory in Hebei, Li was shown more than 60 bags of white powder seized by police from milk collecting stations. Tests showed the powder contained high levels of melamine, the report said.
"It's shocking," Li was quoted as saying. "It's a crime against the people."
The nationwide inspection will cover the country's 175 baby milk food factories, with results of the checks expected to be released in up to two days, Li said.
Beijing has blamed Sanlu Group for delays in warning the public about its contaminated product. Chinese officials say they were not alerted until last Monday, even though Sanlu received complaints as early as March and company tests in August found the milk powder contained melamine, a chemical used in plastics that is banned in food products.
New Zealand dairy farmers' group Fonterra, which owns 43 percent of Sanlu Group, said Sunday it had urged the company to recall the product as early as six weeks ago, despite a full public recall only being initiated last week.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday the first she knew about the issue was on Sept. 5. Three days later she convened a meeting of senior ministers at which she ordered officials to leapfrog provincial Chinese officials and immediately inform their superiors in Beijing.
Sanlu ordered a recall Thursday.
The incident was an embarrassing failure for China's product safety system, which was overhauled in an attempt to restore consumer confidence after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over tainted toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.
The milk scandal is especially damaging because it involves a major Chinese food company and the government expects such companies to act as industry role models for safety and quality.
Chinese investigators were looking into how and why the melamine was added to milk.
Health Minister Gao said it might have been done to fool quality tests after water was added to fraudulently increase the milk's volume. Melamine is rich in nitrogen and standard tests for protein in food ingredients measure nitrogen levels.
Shoddy and fake goods are common in China and infants, hospital patients and others have been killed or injured by tainted or fake milk, medicines, liquor and other products.