BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - China's health minister urged the nation's officials to focus on fixing its problem-ridden food safety system now the flood of Chinese children hospitalised for toxic milk poisoning has eased. Health minister Chen Zhu said that as of Wednesday there were 2,390 children still in hospital after suffering kidney stones and other painful complications from drinking infant formula adulterated with the chemical melamine. "Now we've gone past the peak in infant checks and diagnoses," he told officials on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported late that day. At the peak in late September, up to 22,000 infants were in hospital on any one day after being found sick from the melamine, which was used to disguise sub-standard or diluted milk, Chen said. On Wednesday, 90 more children were hospitalised because of the toxin, he said. Four children have died from the tainted formula. But with China battling a fresh melamine scare, now in eggs, Chen urged officials to break down bureaucratic barriers that have hindered the government's handling of this and the burst of food safety scandals last year. "Improve the food safety general coordination mechanism as quickly as possible," he told the video-conference of health officials. "Coordinate and cooperate to investigate and punish major incidents." The World Health Organisation's food safety chief Jorgen Schlundt last week called China's food safety system "disjointed" and said poor communications between dispersed ministries and agencies may have prolonged the outbreak of melamine poisoning. That same toxin is now scaring consumers from Chinese mainland-raised eggs tainted through chicken feed. The chemical has been detected in eggs sold in Hong Kong and South Korea. No illnesses have been attributed to the tainted eggs. But the scare has come as another reminder of the widespread use of melamine throughout China's food production. Tests have revealed it in a variety of Chinese-made products from milk and chocolate bars to yoghurt exported around the world. And last year, melamine was found in China-made pet food ingredients that killed pets in the United States. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Valerie Lee)
A Chinese woman crouches as she breastfeeds her child along a street in central Beijing October 30, 2008. China began reviewing a tougher draft food safety law late last week following ...
