By Gillian Wong
BEIJING – The parents of a 1-year-old boy who developed kidney stones after drinking infant formula tainted with an industrial chemical are suing the dairy at the heart of the scandal, state media reported, as tests implicated 15 more companies Wednesday.
The case is believed to be the first civil lawsuit filed in response to the contamination of milk, yogurt and other dairy products with melamine, which causes kidney stones and can lead to kidney failure. Nearly 54,000 children have been sickened and four infants have died.
According to the lawsuit, the boy was fed baby formula made by Sanlu Group Co. from the time of his birth, said the report by Caijing, a leading Chinese business magazine.
The child’s parents filed a lawsuit in a court in Zhenping county seeking $22,000 in compensation from Sanlu for medical, travel and other expenses incurred after the child developed kidney stones, the magazine said.
The Zhenping court has yet to accept the case, said the report, which gave only the parent’s surname, Sun.
Jerome Cohen, a Chinese legal system expert and a professor at New York University School of Law, said it was surprising the couple was even able to file a lawsuit.
“That itself is news,” Cohen said. “Lawyers are not being permitted generally to help people bring about such suits. Sometimes, though, the system is porous and they don’t have uniform rules. Sometimes lawyers just take a chance.”
China’s government, meanwhile, named 15 more dairy companies found to have products contaminated with melamine after a new series of tests.
The tainted samples were mostly milk powder products for adults.
Thirty-one samples of Chinese milk powder provided by 20 companies were found to contain melamine, according to data seen Wednesday on China’s food safety administration’s Web site.
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In the U.S.
Tainted candy in Calif., Conn. also
HARTFORD, Conn. – Melamine, an industrial chemical blamed for sickening thousands of Chinese infants, was found in candy in four Connecticut stores this week, a state official said Wednesday.
Details
Connecticut Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. made the announcement days after contaminated White Rabbit Creamy Candy was also found in California.
Queensway Foods Company Inc. of California distributed the candy and says it is recalling it. Guan Sheng Yuan Co., said last week it was halting production of the sticky confection.
Melamine has been associated with contaminated infant formula and other Chinese products containing milk protein.
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Originally published by Gillian Wong Associated Press .
(c) 2008 Commercial Appeal, The. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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