Parents and doctors suspect milk powder could be the cause of a kidney stone in an 8-month-old girl in Guangzhou, local media reported yesterday.

The child, diagnosed with a stone in her left kidney by doctors at Guangzhou No 8 People's Hospital last week, is said to have taken Dumex milk formula since birth, the Guangzhou-based New Express Daily said.

She reportedly did not suffer from any kidney ailment when her mother first took her for a medical checkup in Hubei province last September following the melamine-contaminated milk scare in the country.

Only milk powder or water could cause a kidney stone in a child of her age, said Huang Chunwang, the doctor who treated her.

The child, however, does not need hospitalization or special treatment because the 0.2 cm by 0.2 cm stone is considered too small for alarm, doctors said.

Nevertheless, her parents have changed the milk food brand after the diagnosis.

The baby has taken more than 30 cans of Dumex milk powder, her mother said. She had bought the milk food from a dealer of Dumex products.

Health officials tested samples of Dumex baby milk food, made by the powdered-milk unit of France's Danone Group, recently but found no melamine contamination.

The tests followed reports in the overseas media last month that 48 children in China had been diagnosed with kidney disorders after taking Dumex milk food.

The mother told the local media that she had called the Dumex hotline after her daughter's diagnosis, and the staff assured her of a reply in two "working days". But she has not received any reply even after four days, she said.

Pu Jiabin, external affairs director of Dumex's operation in China, said his company would contact the child's mother and check the milk powder and the medical report with her consent.

(China Daily February 19, 2009)