October 10, 2008	Friday	Shawwal 10, 1429

BEIJING, Oct 9: Nearly 10,700 Chinese infants and children were still in hospital after drinking toxic milk and milk formula, China said on Thursday, but urged foreign customers to take a ‘scientific’ approach to the safety of its products.

The country is still wrestling with a tainted milk scandal that has killed four babies, made tens of thousands more ill and affected products around the world.

But it has rushed to assure buyers abroad and at home that the government is back in control and has closed the loopholes that allowed the industrial chemical melamine, used in making plastics and in pesticides, to get into milk.

“Every country has to ensure the food safety and the health of its domestic consumers,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular briefing on Thursday.“But we also need to find an objective, scientific approach to handle and analyse this problem,” he said, adding that foreign customers would recover their confidence in Chinese food exports as control measures are strengthened.

No more infants had died from the tainted milk, the health ministry said in the latest information on its website.

Eight of the 10,666 children still in hospital on Wednesday were in serious condition, it said, adding that altogether 36,144 had left the hospital after being treated for kidney problems.

—Reuters