October 6, 2008
HOHHOT, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday declined to release updated figures revealing just how many children have been affected by the tainted milk scandal, as it insisted it was working hard to boost confidence.
The health ministry said it had new statistics showing how many babies were believed to have been left ill by the crisis, but did not release the data and gave no indication of if or when it would made the latest information public.
"We've not released the latest number of cases because it is not an infectious disease, so it's not absolutely necessary for us to announce it to the public," a health ministry spokesman told AFP.
Previous official figures said milk powder tainted with the chemical melamine had claimed the lives of four children and made a further 53,000 ill.
Melamine, used to produce plastic, can make watered-down milk appear richer in protein than it really is.
Since melamine was found to be the cause of kidney stones in thousands of Chinese children who had been fed tainted baby formula, a worldwide wave of recalls and warnings over Chinese products has kicked in.
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10/8/08
China
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