A 2-month-old infant in Zhejiang Province died on Sunday after drinking Yashili milk powder, but the dairy maker said yesterday that it was confident its product was safe.

Li Junjie's family blamed the death on Yashili Group. They are waiting for test results on the milk formula to decide whether to have an autopsy to determine the cause of death, Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

The test result will be available next week. However, the Food and Drug Administration in Changxing County of Zhejiang Province said the possibility of a milk powder quality problem is slim as it was produced in November, when the country was conducting careful checks on all milk powders nationwide.

A Yashili Group official surnamed Li told Shanghai Daily yesterday that the company is confident in the quality of its products.

The official said all the milk powder products were manufactured under strict quality supervision and that the company will cooperate with the police investigation.

Li Zhengshan, the baby's grandfather, told the Oriental Morning Post that Li Junjie was healthy and had never been ill in the past two months.

"His mother was on a drip these days and the baby had just finished eating a pack of Beingmate milk powder," he was quoted as saying.

Li bought a pack of Yashili for 48 yuan (US$7) at a supermarket on January 3 and fed the baby that morning.

The infant began to vomit and suffered diarrhea that afternoon and was sent to hospital the next morning, the report said.

Doctors said the baby had no heart beat and was not breathing upon arrival at the hospital.

But the cause of death can only be determined after an autopsy, doctors said.

Police have opened an investigation into the case.

(Shanghai Daily January 8, 2009)