(Refiles to fix spelling in headline) (Adds details) By Lucy Hornby and Gyles Beckford BEIJING/WELLINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra said on Sunday it had been told in August that its Chinese partner was selling contaminated milk now linked to the sickness of more than 400 babies and at least one death, as questions arose over how long the problem had been known. Sanlu Group, a milk powder producer 43 percent owned by Fonterra, was ordered to halt production last week after a preliminary investigation found that the chemical compound melamine in its powder was causing kidney stones in infants. Chinese media first reported on Sept. 10 that babies had fallen ill after drinking the formula, and Sanlu on Sept. 11 issued a recall of its product made before Aug 6. "From the day that we were advised of the product contamination issue in August, Fonterra called for a full public recall of all affected product," the company said in a statement. "Consumer safety has always been our number one priority." Sanlu had begun receiving customer complaints in March that babies' urine was discoloured and that some had been admitted to hospital, officials said. It had investigated and recalled some products and sealed other contaminated powder, but had not reported to the government "for a considerable time," vice minister of health Gao Qiang said in a briefing on Saturday. The Hebei provincial government only found out about the problem on Sept. 8, when it was informed by the government of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is headquartered, Gao said. Fonterra said the company was seeking a meeting with the Chinese government to discuss the issue. China's investigation of the tainted milk powder has widened to its dairy-producing regions, as officials attempted to track down the source of melamine in the milk. Farmers or dealers supplying milk to Sanlu may have diluted it with water and then added melamine, a substance used in plastics, fertilisers and cleaning products, to make the milk's protein level appear higher than it actually was. Teams travelled to Hebei, Guangdong, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, the biggest dairy-producing regions, to reinforce local governments, ensure dairy inspections were fully carried out, and check milk powder already in circulation, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. "The teams' primary mission is to underscore the priority the central government has given to the case," said the notice, posted on its website www.aqsiq.gov.cn on Sunday. The Ministry of Health's Gao vowed on Saturday to bring food quality supervision to a "new level" after the scandal, which became public shortly after the end of the Beijing Olympic Games, when China was eager to show its best face to the world. Melamine was linked to deaths and illness of thousands of cats and dogs in the United States last year after it was added to pet food components exported from China. Normally inert, it can trigger the formation of kidney stones in the presence of cyanuric acid. In Taiwan, authorities have sealed all Sanlu milk powder products that have yet to be distributed to retailers, after China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Sanlu had exported 25 tonnes of the milk powder to Taiwan in June. "We've taken all the Sanlu milk powder off the shelves at stores," said Wang Cheng-huei, a deputy director-general of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection at Taiwan's economics ministry. Many of the sick babies came from poor or remote areas, state media said. Babies in rural China are often raised on formula after their mothers return to work in cities, leaving them in the care of their grandparents. Urban mothers also supplement breast-feeding with formula. In 2004, at least 13 babies in the eastern province of Anhui died after drinking fake milk powder that investigators found had no nutritional value. The scandal prompted government efforts to strengthen monitoring of food safety. (Additional reporting by Jeanny Kuo in Taipei)
Eight-month-old Cheng Aobing, who suffers from kidney stones, receives medical treatment at a hospital in Hefei, Anhui province September 14, 2008. China's investigation of the tainted milk powder that sickened hundreds ...
