Chinese Tainted Milk Company Accused Of Cover-Up

BEIJING, Sept. 24, 2008 — -- Two weeks since it first became apparent that contaminated baby formula was sickening thousands of Chinese infants, a portrait of individual greed, lax government regulation and corporate cover-ups has emerged.

Baby milk powder spiked with the industrial chemical melamine has sickened 53,000 infants and killed four. Millions of Chinese parents are scratching their heads over which formulas are safe. The dairy industry has been brought to its knees, as the government overhauls the milk collection system and identifies where in the supply chain the melamine was added.

Lawyer Bill Marler, who has represented clients in some of the largest food-safety cases in the United States, says this latest food scare will inevitably do further harm to the "made in China" brand abroad.

"Clearly, you have to think about things from a moral perspective. There are [53,000] children sick," said Marler. "But you also think about it from an economic perspective. If this product had gotten into the United States, it would have been 'game over' for a lot of products in China."

Marler was invited to share his expertise at a food-safety conference that had been scheduled before the tainted milk was discovered. Several government officials scheduled to attend did not show up at the opening session, including the head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Li Changqiang. He resigned Monday as the recalls spread to include liquid milk and other products made by the country's largest dairy companies. The baby formula scandal has taken center stage at the conference.

"It somewhat surprised me," said Marler. "Every Chinese speaker at the conference spoke about the crisis. I thought it would be avoided."

Xiang Yuzhang, the nation's chief quality inspector, told The Associated Press at the sidelines of the conference that the problem was "more or less" under control.

"At present, there is basically no melamine problem in the Chinese market," said Xiang. "As far as I know, there will be no more bad news."