China milk scandal: Two sentenced to death

The head of the country's biggest milk powder company, Sanlu, was spared the death penalty but was sentenced to life in prison and fined more than £2 million.

The sentences are an indication of the embarrassment felt by the Communist Party's senior leadership over the scandal, which caused widespread anger across the country and humiliated it in front of the world when it was basking in the glory of the Beijing Olympics.

They also contrast with the lack of criminal prosecution against any of the senior officials involved.

Sanlu, which failed to recall products even after it knew they were contaminated with melamine, a chemical which causes kidney stones in young children, was a state-owned company and Party officials ordered it to keep quiet about its discovery in advance of the Games.

Babies began falling sick with kidney problems as early as late 2007, and by July last year many doctors were blaming powdered milk, particularly the low-cost variety sold by Sanlu.

The company's tests confirmed melamine poisoning by August 2, but the problem was not made public until the New Zealand government informed the Beijing authorities in mid-September. Fonterra, a New Zealand firm, owned a stake in Sanlu.

One of the man sentenced to death, Zhang Yujun, was a manufacturer who sold more than 600 tons of melamine, which is banned from foodstuffs. Another was one of the middlemen who added the product at milk collection stations.

Tian Wenhua, general manager of Sanlu, was also a senior Party official, and some parents had demanded the death penalty for her too. But her lawyers put up a spirited defence, claiming that she had been prevented from going public by officials in Shijiazhuang, the city where Sanlu is based.

It was discovered that huge quantities of melamine had been sold to dairy farmers and middlemen to add to milk because it artificially enhanced protein readings.