China has increased to six the estimated number of children who died from drinking dairy products contaminated with melamine.
By Chris Hogg BBC News, Shanghai The crisis has been an indictment of China's food safety regimeChina's dairy exports have all but ground to a halt following the scandal earlier this year when milk was tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
The health ministry had until now said four infants had died after consuming the toxic compound, used to give the appearance of enhanced protein content.
Data reported in the country's state media suggests that dairy exports fell 92% year-on-year in October.
It also said 294,000 were now known to have fallen ill as a result, five times more than had been originally thought.
Meanwhile China's Ministry of Health has revised the number of infants who died after drinking tainted products.
The milk scandal, first reported in September, sparked worldwide concern.
It now says as many as six infants died and up to 294,000 suffered from urinary tract ailments including kidney stones.
Dozens of countries temporarily banned Chinese dairy imports until the authorities in Beijing tightened guidelines and procedures.
That figure is a lot higher than had previously been reported.
Last month, China said it would allow the US Food and Drug Administration to open offices in three cities to help ensure the safety of Chinese food products for export.
More than 850 children are still being treated in hospital; at least 150 of them are said to be seriously ill.
Treatment continuing
US alert
In a statement, the Chinese health ministry said its medical experts could not rule out the possibility that six children had died as a result of consuming tainted milk products.
In the first part of this year, an average of 12,000 tonnes of dairy products were exported each month. Hundreds of children are still in hospital for related illnessesIn October, after the scandal broke, that fell to just over 1,000 tonnes.
The crisis has been an indictment of China's food safety regime
Last month the Food and Drug Administration in the United States imposed an import alert which made it hard for Chinese firms to export their products to the US.
Four of the deaths were recorded in the provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Shaanxi, and the other two in Gansu, it added.
The businesses involved are hoping that a meeting between Chinese leaders and the US treasury secretary in Beijing on Thursday, part of a regular economic dialogue, will produce an easing of restrictions imposed on them.
A total of 294,000 infants are reported to have suffered "urinary system abnormalities" such as kidney stones due to tainted milk. Some 51,900 were taken to hospital and 861 are still admitted.
Chinese media first reported in September that children had fallen ill from drinking formula contaminated by melamine, but officials have since admitted that a major producer, the Sanlu Group, had concealed the problem for several months.
The problem widened in October, when the authorities in Hong Kong reported that melamine had also been detected in Chinese eggs.
Later, state media reported that the chemical was probably being routinely added to Chinese animal feed.
