The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday recalled a batch of baby formula, "Xiang Xue Hai" with batch number 20050112, found to be of hazardously low nutritional value. Stores have been ordered to stop sales of the product immediately.

Parents have also been advised to stop feeding the formula to their children, and to discard any remaining formula.

The formula is produced by Xiang Xue Hai Dairy Limited Company from Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"The infant formula is hazardously low in protein, fat, vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc," the MOH said.

Ministry inspectors recently discovered that the inferior formula was being sold in China's rural markets despite a previous crackdown on substandard infant formula in 2004. Numerous reports of malnourished infants were made in 2004 mainly in Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces.

The ministry said anyone who continues to sell the product will be punished.

Earlier this year, a wholesaler and a retailer of low quality infant formula were tried in a district court in Changsha, Hunan Province. They were charged with selling the "Zheng Meng" brand of baby formula despite a ban by the local administration. Many infants were reported to have suffered malnutrition as a result, which has reportedly affected their mental development.

In December 2005, two people were sentenced to five to seven years in prison for producing the inferior "Lizichun" brand of baby formula. It was determined that the formula had caused the death of one baby.

The director of the milk powder factory, surnamed Li, was given a seven-year sentence and fined 500,000 yuan (US$61,700), and the deputy director in charge of technical affairs, surnamed Liu, was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year reprieve.

Between 2002 and 2004, Li and Liu produced the "Lizichun" formula in spite of knowing that it did not meet national standards.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2006)