China has withdrawn 8,311.7 tonnes of unqualified milk products from market since the toxic baby formula scandal's exposure, an official said on Thursday.

It was revealed by Wang Dongfeng, vice director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), at a teleconference with senior governmental officials in Beijing.

The scandal was exposed on July 16 after 16 babies, who were fed milk made from powder produced by Sanlu Group, developed kidney stones.

In the scandal, melamine, often used in the manufacture of plastics, was added to substandard or diluted milk to make protein levels appear higher. At least three infants died and more than 50,000 were sickened after prolonged drinking the contaminated milk.

The SAIC has so far sent more than 7.59 million visits by law enforcement officials across the country to examine milk product dealers.

According to Gao Hongbin, vice Agriculture Minister who also attended the teleconference, China's vets have checked more than 20,000 milk collecting stations in the country and shut down 238 unlicensed ones.

Pu Changcheng, vice director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said that as of Oct. 30 more than 12,163 batches of milk products on sale had been tested and found to be safe.

Health Minister Chen Zhu revealed that 2,390 infants nationwide were still receiving hospital treatment for kidney diseases caused by tainted powdered milk as of Oct. 29.

The figure has declined from a daily maximum of 22,000 on Sept. 26, the minister added.

So far a total of 4,500 hospitals have examined poisoned babies, and another 8,000 medical staff have been sent to the country's rural areas to help sick babies.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2008)