BEIJING — China's health ministry said Tuesday it had ordered food safety authorities in central Hubei province to investigate claims that milk powder has caused infant girls to grow breasts. Officials had already begun tests on the baby formula after parents and doctors expressed fears that hormones in the milk powder made by NASDAQ-listed Synutra had caused babies to develop breasts. "The Ministry of Health had attached great importance to this issue," spokesman Deng Haihua told a news conference, according to a transcript. Local food safety authorities had earlier refused a parent's request to investigate the formula made by Synutra, based in the eastern city of Qingdao, saying they did not conduct tests at consumers' behest, state media reported. Medical tests indicated the levels of hormones in three girls, ranging in age from four- to 15-months and who were fed the same baby formula, exceeded those of the average adult woman, China Daily reported on Monday. A fourth case was reported in Beijing, Xinhua reported on Tuesday. The ministry said medical experts were also assisting a separate medical investigation into the cause of the infants' condition. Synutra insisted in a statement that its products were safe and that no man-made hormones or illegal substances had been added during production. The company's shares plunged 27 percent on Monday in New York to 12.72 dollars, their steepest fall since China's 2008 tainted milk scandal. Chinese dairy products were recalled worldwide in 2008 after it was found that melamine, which is used to make plastics, was widely and illegally added to the products to give the appearance of higher protein. Melamine was found in the products of 22 Chinese dairy companies in a massive scandal blamed for the deaths of at least six infants and for sickening 300,000 others in China. Source --- At least they have breast now?
hrm i think they should market this baby milk powder for asian women who want to grow bigger breasts.
wow, you people are so easy to manipulate. stop believing everything you read so easily. there were tests done, this is false. i honestly think half of you have been victims of internet or pyramid scams...
This false news got every asia women with flat titts all excited I bet! Formula 'not cause of breasts on babies' Tests clear Synutra of affecting infant girls Zhuang Pinghui 12:41pm, Aug 16, 2010 Email to friend Print a copy Bookmark and Share The baby formula produced by a mainland company had not caused three girls in Hubei to grow breasts, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday. The ministry launched an investigation after the girls' parents had complained about the formula, made by Synutra. The company denied the charges. No abnormalities of hormones were found in samples of Synutra or other milk powder currently sold in the market, ministry spokesman Deng Haihua said. "Based on the clinical investigation and testing results, experts at the ministry believe the cases of premature development of breasts in three baby girls in Hubei had no link to being fed the Synutra baby formula." This was the latest case in a series of food-safety scandals in recent years, of which a small number had received national media attention and prompted parents who lost confidence in domestic products to exercise caution. Worried parents in Guangzhou urged hospitals to stop feeding their babies Synutra formula and demanded that they be fed with safer foreign brands. In other food scandals, at least 13 babies died in 2004 after drinking fake formula with low nutritious value. Eggs were found to contain Sudan red, a kind of cancer-causing industrial dye, and turbot fish had been tainted with carcinogens, both in 2006. Dairy products of 22 domestic manufacturers were recalled worldwide in 2008 after melamine had been found added to raw milk to make it appear richer in protein. More than 300,000 babies were diagnosed with kidney problems. In the latest case, the ministry said it had tested 42 samples of milk powder from Shandong -based, Nasdaq-listed Synutra, including one provided by the family of one of the three girls. Laboratory tests found no traces of added hormones, and the inherent hormones were within normal range. The hormone levels found in the baby formula provided by the one family were similar to the amount found in breast milk, Deng said. "Female hormones also exist in breast milk, and the result showed the amount of female hormones in milk powder is not higher than that in breast milk, so we have no reason to say that a long-time consumption of this milk powder will cause premature puberty," said Wu Xueyan , a professor of internal secretion at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. "I think, as long as it's within a normal range, it should not cause premature puberty." The babies went through "mini-puberty", but their bones and body size were normal for their age. They should be monitored, but many such cases healed themselves around the age of two, Wu said. Deng said the ministry had also tested 31 samples from 14 other domestic and foreign dairy manufacturers and found no abnormity in hormone levels. The ministry said it had also collected data from some of the country's children's hospitals and found no abnormal rise of premature puberty cases. Parents who sought medical help last month after their baby daughters started to develop breasts were told the infants had hormone levels of an adult woman, and advised them to stop using the formula. The ministry originally ordered Hubei authorities to do tests after parents and doctors had expressed fears about the Synutra formula. The results confirmed that the babies had high hormone levels, but concluded that the girls did not have premature puberty.
