Hundreds of babies ill in China milk powder scare

Shanghai: Chinese authorities said on Saturday that 432 babies across the country may have fallen sick after taking contaminated milk powder.

The government has ordered Sanlu Group, a dairy producer, to stop production after a preliminary investigation found its products were responsible, officials said.

"This is a severe food safety accident," Gao Qiang, a senior official at the Ministry of Health, told a news conference.

Sanlu admitted this week that its baby formula had been contaminated with melamine, a toxin linked to the deaths and illness of thousands of pets in the United States last year.