Health Highlights: Sept. 11, 2008

Sept. 12 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

FDA Warns on Infant Formula Suspected in China Illnesses

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning American consumers not to use any infant formula made in China. The warning comes on the heels of an investigation in China of substandard formula following nationwide reports of infants being hospitalized with kidney stones.

The FDA said late Thursday that the China formulas are apparently suspected of being contaminated with melamine, the same chemical involved in the massive pet food recall last year, according to the Associated Press./

But Janice Oliver, deputy director of the FDA's food safety program, added that no U.S. formula manufacturer has received any ingredients from China, so "there is no threat of contamination to the domestic supply."

However, she said, "We're concerned that there may be some infant formula that may have gotten into the United States illegally and may be on the ethnic market." FDA officials are particularly concerned about places like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston, which have large populations of Chinese immigrants, the AP reported.

Agence France Presse reported earlier in the day that China's state news agency Xinhua said reports of seriously ill babies first emerged in the northwestern province of Gansu and have now appeared in six other provinces. In Gansu, there were at least 59 cases of babies with kidney stones, including one who died, AFP reported.

"An unknown number of infants in at least seven provinces and regions across China have suffered from kidney stones," Xinhua reported. "Doctors and parents suspected it could be the result of drinking fake milk powder of the same brand."

The news agency said the suspect formula bore the label of the Sanlu Group, a leading dairy products company, AFP reported. The company says that the product was produced by counterfeiters and that it has sent investigators to Gansu.