New Zealand Dairy Giant Fonterra Confident in Its Milk Supplies to China

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra said Wednesday it is "100 percent confident" in its milk supplies to a Chinese company under investigation over claims of tainted milk powder.

Photo: New Zealand Dairy Giant Fonterra Confident in Its Milk Supplies to China

Parents and doctors in China's Hubei province have expressed fears that hormones in milk powder produced by Synutra International have caused young girls to develop breasts prematurely.

Synutra said the questionable milk powder was all imported from New Zealand, AFP reports.

This is the second scandal in China’s dairy industry since 2008 when 22 dairy companies were involved in selling milk tainted with a toxic material, melamine, to enhance its protein content. At least six babies were killed and some 300,000 sickened due to melamine.

Medical tests conducted on the concerned babies, four to 15 months old, showed their levels of hormones exceeded those of the average adult woman, the local media reported. A fourth case has been reported from Beijing, according to Times of India.