Health officials in northwest China's Gansu Province are investigating a brand of baby milk powder that is suspected of giving at least 14 infants kidney stones in the last two months.

The No.1 Hospital of The People's Liberation Army (PLA), in the provincial capital Lanzhou, received the first case on June 28, which was followed by another 13.

However, at least three other hospitals, including the Gansu Provincial People's Hospital, the No.1 and No.2 Hospitals affiliated to Lanzhou University confirmed they had received similar cases in the past two months.

All these babies were hospitalized after drinking milk made from powder labeled with the Sanlu brand, the Gansu Provincial Public Health Bureau reported.

Doctors of these hospitals had the consensus that "it was a serious public safety incident", and urged local authorities to step up investigations and take possible measures to prevent similar cases.

The bureau promised to hold a press conference to reveal the result within one week.

Sanlu Group, a leading dairy products company in the country, said that the packaging may be fake and had sent people to Gansu to conduct its own investigation, a company spokesman with the surname Zhang told Xinhua.

Zhang Wei, chief urologist at the PLA No.1 Hospital, said even more babies could be sick, but high medical costs had deterred parents from seeking treatment for their children.

"It is rare for babies to get kidney stones, let alone so many babies at the same time," said Zhang.

Parents told reporters they gave their infants Sanlu milk powder as it was cheap.

The parents of twins who were receiving treatment in the military hospital said their children's treatment, which had lasted one month, was already costing them 20,000 yuan (3,000 U.S. dollars) and they were trying to borrow more money to ensure all the kidney stones were removed.

Doctor Zhang said seven babies were receiving treatment in the hospital. They ranged in age from newborns to 11 months old.

He received the first case on June 28. All 14 babies were unable to pass urine and had vomited.

The provincial public health bureau is investigating Sanlu for possible connections between the milk powder and the babies' kidney stones.

This is not the first time Sanlu has been in the headlines in connection with a food quality scandal not of its own making.

Thirteen infants died of malnutrition in 2004 in east Anhui Province after consuming sub-standard milk powder. Illegally manufactured milk powder falsely labeled with the brand of Sanlu and other major dairy companies caused 171 babies to be hospitalized.

The majority lived in rural areas in Fuyang City. The parents bought cheap milk powder at rural shops. It

Editor: Yan