China Milk Scandal : Two More Face Trial

CHINA MILK SCANDAL : TWO MORE FACE TRIAL 30 Dec 2008, 0949 hrs IST, AFP BEIJING: Two more suspects in China's tainted milk scandal were set to go on trial Tuesday, bringing the number to 17 who are facing court over the nation's worst food safety case in years. Brothers Geng Jinping and Geng Jinzhu were scheduled to be tried for making and selling food additives laced with the chemical melamine, the China News Service said. At least six babies in China died this year and 294,000 fell ill after drinking milk laced with melamine, which is normally used to make plastic. The chemical was mixed into watered-down milk to make it appear richer in protein, but it caused severe kidney and urinary tract problems in babies who drank contaminated milk powder. The Gengs are accused of being "middlemen" who added melamine into milk, which was then sold to Sanlu, the largest Chinese dairy producer to have become embroiled in the scandal. Officials at the court in northern Shijiazhuang city refused to comment on the proceedings, but the China News Service said notices of Tuesday's trials were posted at the courthouse. On Monday, nine people suspected of trading or producing the tainted additives went on trial in Shijiazhuang and surrounding districts, while five others were tried on Friday last week. In China, trials often last just one day and verdicts are announced soon after. The verdicts in the milk trials will be "announced at an appropriate time," state press reports said, giving no other details. The scandal, which emerged in September after initially being covered up, shook the foundations of a Chinese food industry that was already beset by repeated safety problems. It quickly became a major global concern after contaminated Chinese milk products were found abroad, leading to recalls around the world. The former head of the Sanlu Group, Tian Wenhua, is set to go on trial in Shijiazhuang on Wednesday with three other top company officials. The group was once one of China's leading dairy producers but last week filed for bankruptcy due to the losses it incurred over the scandal. Lawyers seeking to file lawsuits against the company have said Tian could be facing a long jail term or even the death penalty.

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