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BEIJING, CHINA - A chemical blamed for killing two infants in China has been found in 69 brands of baby milk powder nationwide, state television said on Tuesday, in a potential dramatic escalation of the scandal.
The government has ordered a halt to the sale of the 69 brands tainted with the chemical melamine, said the report by state-run CCTV, adding the products were made by 22 different companies.
The tainted milk powder has sickened more than 1,200 infants across several provinces in a scandal that erupted last week but so far had focussed solely on the Sanlu brand.
"In order to ensure the safety of the milk products, the relevant government departments have pulled them from shelves, sealed them, recalled them and destroyed them," CCTV said in its nightly news broadcast.
The scandal had prompted a nationwide probe and the additional tainted brands appeared to have been detected through testing linked to that investigation.
Police have arrested two more suspects, state press said Tuesday, bringing the total to four arrests, in reports that warned more sick babies were expected.
The government has blamed the scandal on milk collectors deliberately contaminating the milk, possibly to boost its protein content.
Police in Hebei province said that in the two latest arrests, both suspects confessed to adding melamine, Xinhua news agency said.
The government has criticised Sanlu for not going public sooner with the health concerns, which began to emerge as early as March, or after tests in early August showed melamine in the product.
The scandal is the latest to rock China's food industry, which has been tarnished by a series of health scares over dangerous products in recent years. -- AFP
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