SHIJIAZHUANG (China), Sept 16: Twenty per cent of Chinese dairy firms probed in the wake of a baby milk health scare have been found to have produced melamine-tainted formula, state media reported on Tuesday.

Chinese quality officials last week ordered a nationwide probe into all baby milk powders after it was reported that dozens of children had developed kidney stones after drinking tainted formula produced by the Sanlu Group.

Two infants have since died and more than 1,200 diagnosed with kidney illness in a growing scandal that authorities have warned may be yet to peak. The head of the state-owned company has been sacked.

The results of the government-led probe announced on Tuesday showed that Sanlu Group, which has been the focus of public anger over the scandal, is not the only offending company.

Out of 109 dairy producers checked, 22 had been found to have produced batches of milk contaminated with melamine, including Beijing Olympic Games sponsor Yili and other major brands, state television said, citing China’s quality watchdog.

State-owned Sanlu, 43 per cent owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, topped the list of offenders with all 11 batches checked found to be tainted with melamine, a banned toxin linked to pet deaths in the United States last year.

Sanlu also topped the table in terms of the highest concentration of melamine, with one batch’s reading more than four times than that of the next worst producer, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its website (www.aqsiq.gov.cn).

Hong Kong-listed Mengniu Dairy was rated as the seventh worst, with three out of 28 batches shown to be contaminated with melamine. Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, a Shanghai-listed dairy firm and Beijing Games sponsor, was also named.—Reuters