China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) on Saturday initiated a nationwide scrutiny over dairy producers and sellers in the wake of the baby milk powder scandal.

In an urgent circular issued to local industry and commerce administrations throughout the country, the SAIC ordered to verify the qualifications of every dairy producer and seller, make sure of pulling all tainted products off shelves, close down the business of selling dairy products without licenses and deliver to local police any criminal cases involving in trading fake and bad-quality dairy products.

By 9 a.m. on Saturday, the SAIC had received 106,143 complaints and refunded 304.38 tons of dairy products.

More than 6,200 infants have developed kidney stones after drinking baby formula tainted with the hazardous chemical melamine, which makes the protein content of the milk appear higher.

Dairy giant Sanlu, based in the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang in north China, was the first company exposed in the scandal, but subsequent investigations found a total of 22 manufacturers involved, including leading companies such as the Bright Dairy & Food and Mengniu Group.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2008)