Worried Parents in China Wait for Answers on Tainted Formula
One father, Zhang Gaofeng, 35, had waited more than a day at the hospital with his wife, Wang Hui, and their 22-month-old daughter, Yue. The couple had fed Yue the Sanlu brand of baby formula now at the center of a nationwide food safety scandal that has left three infants dead and sickened more than 6,000 babies. Mr. Zhang, a migrant worker, blamed corporate greed.
"They are trying to make a profit off the people who are not rich enough to afford the imported brands," he said as he waited in the hospital parking lot with other families. "Poor people can only afford the low-end products like this one." He said the Sanlu product had cost about $3.20 for two days' worth of formula, compared with about $5 for the top brands.
The anxiety at Children's Hospital is just one snapshot of a scandal that has broadened every day since it became public last week. On Wednesday, Health Minister Chen Zhu reported that more than 1,300 infants had been hospitalized and that 158 had suffered acute kidney failure after being fed formula contaminated with the industrial additive melamine.