A large quantity of melamine was recently found in milk powder produced by Scient Infant Nurture Co. from its production facility in Guangzhou, China. The Scient infant formula produced on March 17, 2008 contained 132.9 mg/kg of melamine, exceeding the national limit of 1mg/kg by over 100 times.

According to a report by the Daily Economy News, Beijing consumer Guo Li said that his child had taken Scient infant formula since September 2006 until the breakout of the melamine scandal. Since then, four batches of Scient milk powder were found to contain higher than acceptable levels melamine. When Guo’s two-year-old displayed symptoms of irritability, anorexia and low urine volume, he took his child to the hospital. Tests from several facilities around Beijing determined that Guo’s child had pointed stones in both kidneys—a common reaction from melamine poisoning. Guo and his family were devastated upon hearing the news.

Guo says Scient has denied any problem with their milk powder. “They said all their products were safe except the four batches announced by the State,” he stated.

In March, Guo took several unopened cans of Scient formula he purchased last year to the China National Food and Safety Supervision and Inspection Center to be examined. Results showed that the formula all contained large quantity of melamine, yet these batches of formula were not among the four announced by the State.

All examination reports since April 2008 published on the Scient website showed that their products met safety requirements. Yet no test report was published for any batch that had been questioned by concerned parents.
 
“Milk source 100 percent imported,” states the can of Scient milk. The customs import health inspection certificate that Guo obtained showed that the full cream milk powder imported by Scient from New Zealand and Australia met all safety requirements.

So how could a milk source determined to be safe test for such high levels of melamine? “When the imported milk sources were tight, we used some milk produced in China,” claimed Scient spokesperson, Shi Guishan from the company’s Beijing office. However he refused to disclose the source of the China-produced milk.

Scient’s business license shows that the company has three shareholders: Guangdong, U.S. Scient and Singapore Scient. On a package of Scient milk powder, the trademark holder was U.S. Scient Co. Ltd.

To date Scient has not offered any explanation to its consumers regarding its product quality. The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had ordered an investigation but a determination is still pending.

Read original article in Chinese.