KEY POINTS:
Government officials are helping Fonterra keep its directors in China safe as authorities there crack down on those involved in the tainted baby formula scandal.
Four Chinese babies are dead, 158 have acute kidney failure and 6244 have kidney stones after drinking powdered milk contaminated with the industrial
chemical melamine.
Fonterra has three directors on the board of San Lu, the company it part-owns, which is at the centre of the scandal.
Police have detained San Lu's chairwoman, Tian Wenhua.
The Weekend Herald understands Trade Minister Phil Goff discussed plans with Fonterra boss Andrew Ferrier yesterday, and that at least two of the directors have been in China this week.
It also emerged yesterday that the melamine content in San Lu's tainted milk powder was vastly higher than samples from other companies, prompting China's Health Minister Chen Zhu to blame San Lu for the four deaths and the majority of the illnesses.
Hundreds of parents have streamed into San Lu's office, demanding refunds and worrying over what products they could safely give to their children.
Mothers and fathers hovered by youngsters hooked to IV drips in hospitals, shocked that the milk powder inside pastel-colored tins contained poison that was causing kidney stones and other problems in their babies.
"We're so disappointed in San Lu," said 26-year-old Ji Yiqing, whose thin but energetic 11-month-old daughter is being treated at a hospital for two large kidney stones that have fused together.
"We thought they were a better brand, and now we don't trust them at all."
Testing by China's State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine found the melamine content in San Lu's milk powder sample to be 2563mg a kilogram, far higher than others, which ranged from 0.09mg to 619mg a kilo, said the official Xinhua News Agency.
A Chinese official told the Weekend Herald melamine contained nitrogen. Food testers checked nitrogen levels in milk products to determine the protein content, which explained why Chinese infant formula producers added it to their products.
"But while there is enough melamine in the other milk powder to deceive, the level found in San Lu's milk powder is enough to kill," he said.
The replacement chairwoman of the San Lu group, Zhang Zhenling, issued an apology late on Thursday.
But she made no mention of the dead babies or the anguish their parents are facing, instead apologising for "the physical damages and economic losses the company had caused to consumers, including those in Taiwan".
Meanwhile, new allegations have emerged, suggesting San Lu knew melamine was being added to its milk products more than three years ago.
The vice-governor of the Hebei province, Yang Chongyong, said the practice of adding melamine to milk began in April 2005.
A Fonterra spokeswoman told the Weekend Herald the first time the company heard of the poisoned milk scandal was at a San Lu board meeting held at the beginning of last month.
At the August 2 meeting, directors were told the company's help line had been receiving calls about sick babies since March.
Reports yesterday said that up to 35 tonnes of tainted San Lu milk products had not been returned. Fonterra said it was doing everything possible to recover the products.
Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday said Fonterra had significant knowledge about the contamination before it alerted the Government, but the company was in a difficult position.
"They wanted a product recall and they could not get any action at all from the local government in China.
"I think the advantage of the New Zealand Government hearing about it and determining that Beijing must be told is that we got action."
Helen Clark said it was important to concentrate on getting Fonterra focused on ensuring quality of product in future joint ventures.