The number of infants in China who have died from melamine-tainted milk powder has now climbed to six, according to news reports.
China's Health Ministry is also reporting that nearly 300,000 infants in the country have battled urinary problems after drinking tainted milk formula -- a nearly six-fold increase from figures Chinese officials quoted when the milk scandal broke in September.
Previously, officials said the contaminated formula has sickened 50,000 infants in that country.
"Most of the sickened children received outpatient treatment only for small amounts of sand-like kidney stones found in their urinary systems, while some patients had to be hospitalized for the illness," China's Health Ministry said in a written statement.
Four of the six infants who died after drinking the tainted formula lived in the providences of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Shaanxi, officials said. The other two infants lived in the Gansu providence.
Officials say 861 infants continue to receive treatment for the kidney problems caused by melamine-tainted formula.
China's milk scandal is the worst food safety crisis the country has faced in years. It surfaced three months ago when officials discovered melamine -- a chemical used to make plastic and fertilizer -- in the powdered infant formula made in that country.
Authorities learned some Chinese dairy plants intentionally added melamine to milk products to make them appear to have higher protein levels.
Since then, scores of other dairy products sold around the world -- and in the U.S. -- have tested positive for melamine. Those products include eggs, chocolates, yogurt, and liquid milk.
Just a few days ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed it found traces of melamine in Good Start Supreme Infant Formula and traces of cyanuric acid in Enfamil LIPIL with iron.
The FDA, however, said the formulas were safe because of the low levels of those chemicals.
That announcement reversed the position the agency took less than two months ago when it said it would not allow any melamine in infant formula.
The FDA now says it will not allow both melamine and cyanuric acid--used to chlorinate pools--in infant formula.
Melamine and cyanuric acid became feared household words last year after the FDA discovered them in the Chinese-imported wheat gluten used to make pet food.
Thousands of pets in the United States became sick or died after eating the tainted pet food. Veterinarians say those chemicals can combine and form crystals in the animals' bodies, and those crystals can impair the animals' kidney function.
Doctors say melamine in humans can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
