CHINA MILK COMPANY ASKED GOVERNMENT TO HELP COVER UP SCANDAL

This is ten times worse than the old pour pee pee in your coke scandal...

The company at the heart of the tainted milk powder scandal asked officials to help conceal the extent of the problem, the state media said today.

Tens of thousands of babies have been taken ill and four have died due to kidney problems after drinking Sanlu infant formula containing melamine, a chemical which should not be used in food. The issue has caused public outrage and raised further questions about product safety in China.

Lower levels of the substance have since been found in dairy goods from other companies and foodstuffs made with milk powder. Firms around the world have been forced to withdraw products due to health concerns.

The authorities had already said that officials in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, where Sanlu is based, sat on a report from the company for more than a month before telling provincial bosses. Beijing fired several as a result.

But in today's People's Daily - the Communist party mouthpiece - Shijiazhuang government spokesman Wang Jianguo said Sanlu asked for help in "managing" the media response to the case when it informed authorities of the problem on August 2. Parents had begun complaining to the firm by the end of 2007.

According to the paper, Sanlu's letter asked the government to "increase control and coordination of the media, to create a good environment for the recall of the company's problem products. This is to avoid whipping up the issue and creating a negative influence in society."

Wang said his colleagues did send a team to investigate Sanlu as soon as they became aware of the issue.

But the People's Daily pointed out that they did not inform the provincial government until September 9.

Wang expressed "deep guilt and pain" for the scandal, adding: "We mistakenly thought that taking necessary measures and raising product quality could mitigate the effect and reduce losses.

"The bungling of the best opportunity to report up the handling of the issue caused much harm to people's safety, and seriously affected the image of the party and the government."