An intriguing tale of greed, political wrangling and high-level cover-up is fast taking shape as more details about China's tainted milk scandal are revealed by the day.

Months before New Zealand blew the whistle on the case, an anxious father in eastern China had already been trying to go public about the problems with the milk powder from Sanlu, the Chinese dairy giant in the centre of the storm.

This first, frantic - but ultimately failed - attempt at sounding the alarm is a cautionary tale on the problems with China's food safety system and why consumers here need a stronger voice.

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