Tainted milk fed to many in Beijing

BEIJING, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Nearly 25 percent of Beijing children under age 3 reportedly drank chemically tainted milk, said officials who conducted a massive door-to-door survey.

Families of 75,474 young children said they had given their children Sanlu milk powder, which later was found to be tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency reported.

A total 307,779 families with children under age 3 were surveyed in Beijing from Sept. 20 through Oct. 24 in the first screening of its kind ever to take place in China, Xinhua reported Sunday.

At least three babies have died and more than 50,000 have been sickened since the tainted milk scandal was publicly revealed in July, Xinhua reported.

An investigation of China's dairy products industry determined melamine was added to substandard or diluted milk to give the appearance of higher protein levels, Xinhua reported.