Sanlu ex-boss was aware of tainted milk

By Zhu Zhe in Beijing and Cui Xiaohuo in Shijiazhuang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-01 08:36

On August 13, she received a notification from New Zealand dairy giant and Sanlu shareholder, Fonterra Cooperative Group, Tian said. It cited European Union standards to say the highest permissible level of melamine in milk products was 20 mg/kg.

All the defendants admitted that after the Fonterra notification, Sanlu restarted selling products that had up to 10 mg/kg of melamine. "We considered that amount safe," Wang said.

The government's allowable limit of melamine now is 1 mg/kg in baby milk food and 2.5 mg/kg in liquid milk products. But the levels were set after the melamine scandal broke out on September 11.

The indictment shows that between August 2 and September 12, Sanlu produced 72 batches of tainted baby milk food that added up to 904 tons. And it sold 69 batches of those products for 48 million yuan ($7 million).

A prosecutor told the court: "We believe Tian is directly responsible for the production and sale of the tainted products."

Tian's case was heard in a courtroom packed with 360 people. But most of them left the court before the hearing ended late last night.

Several media organizations were allowed inside the court during yesterday's trial, though many parents of children who fell ill were denied entry.

"Why is the trial closed to victims' families? We just want to know what's actually going on," said Wu Yanfang, mother of a girl who is suffering from a kidney ailment in Shijiazhuang.

"We just want to see justice prevail," said Zhou Jin, father of a child diagnosed with kidney stone from Hunan province.

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