A CHEMICAL blamed for killing two infants in China has now been found in 69 brands of baby formula nationwide, including an Australia-China joint venture.
The Chinese government has ordered a halt to the sale of the 69 milk powder brands tainted with the chemical melamine, said the report by state-run CCTV.
The products were made by 22 different companies spread across China.
Tainted milk powder has sickened more than 1200 infants so far across several provinces in a scandal that erupted last week but had originally focused solely on the Sanlu brand.
CCTV said in its nightly news broadcast all 69 brands, which included Sanlu, had been pulled from shelves.
The 22 companies mentioned by CCTV included Torador Dairy Industry, a China-Australia joint venture in the northern city of Tianjian.
Torador was unavailable for comment today.
The scandal is the latest to rock China`s food industry, which has been tarnished by a series of health scares over dangerous products in recent years.
Andrew Ferrier, the head of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, which owns 43 per cent of Sanlu, said yesterday Fonterra knew of the contamination in early August and pushed for an immediate recall but that Sanlu was slowed by Chinese rules.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said her government learned of the contamination problem on September 5, then "blew the whistle`` three days later by informing Beijing after local Chinese officials refused to act.
