China's State Council, or the Cabinet, has started the first-class national food safety emergency response to deal with the tainted Sanlu milk powder incident that has caused kidney stones in at least 432 babies.

The State Council has set up a national leading group comprising officials from the Health Ministry, the quality watchdog and local governments for the incident.

A preliminary investigation has confirmed the Sanlu baby milk powder contaminated by melamine was the cause of kidney stones in infants, said an official statement released Saturday evening.

The melamine substance found in some of the Sanlu products was deliberately added to increase the protein percentage in raw milk or milk powder, it said.

The statement said the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council attached high importance to the issue, urging all-out efforts in treating the affected babies. The patients will be given free medical treatment and the cost will be shouldered by the government.

Meanwhile, the State Council urged a thorough overhaul of the milk powder market, directing the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to join other departments to check all the brands of baby formulas circulating in the market, and immediately pull those disqualified products off shelves.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2008)