China Government Says Synutra Milk Powder Did Not Caused Breast Growth in Babies

According to China’s health minister, there is no evidence that milk powder made by a Chinese company caused three infant girls to develop premature breasts.

The Health Ministry stated that tests showed no exogenous sex hormones, such as estradiol and prolactin, hormones that can cause the production of breast milk (lactation). Healthcare workers have tested three babies who had developed breasts and report that their early developments were “not serious”. The three babies studied were from Wuhan, a populous city in central China’s Hubei province. There were also six cases in five other provinces.

Synutra International Inc. who is being investigated, denies any wrong doing. Chairman Liang Zhang said in a statement Aug. 11 that the company’s products are safe and in no way connected to the claims, adding that the health ministry had found no definitive cause for the premature development in the babies.

Two years ago, China was hit with a melamine scandal when at least six children died and almost 300,000 became ill from consuming powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial compound added to fool inspectors by giving misleadingly high results in protein tests. Last month, 64 tonnes of milk powder and products contaminated with melamine were discovered by Chinese authorities.