We've known for a while that monetary issues trump condoms when it comes to convincing Chinese to have less children, but recent survey underlines exactly how much it matters: 83% of netizens who responded to Sina.com's poll felt that the cost of rearing children was too high. Ordinary families can expect to throw 100,000RMB into raising a child, but the cost gets higher as your income rises. But while the cost of living has no doubt risen, from the replies, it feels like a lot of the money goes into many useless things: Gymboree early learning centers (12,000RMB), imported milk powder (160RMB) and "radiation protection clothing" (400RMB). Yikes, somebody ought to help these parents cut through the apparently thick layer of psuedoscience related to rearing children. more ›

Following the embarassment of finding out that melamine was still in the milk, years after the first scandal rocked China and the world, China has decided to change rules... relating to protein levels. By lowering the new minimum protein level of raw milk to 2.8% from 2.95%, officials are hoping to stop farmers from needing to pump up figures. Says China Daily, the new standard is "more realistic" because many dairy cows are fed "low-quality feed." more ›

Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinpin, who were both sentenced to death in January for their roles in the melamine milk scandal, are now executed. Both had tried to appeal their sentences, but had their appeals turned down in March. While the government has been gung-ho about throwing out harsh sentences against various players in the scandal - which sickened scores of infants across the nation and killed at least six - it's been less interested in investigating accusations that news of the tainting had been surpressed for fears of bad publicity during the Beijing Olympics. more ›

Take cover! Barricade yourself! Citizens of China must be protected from ...foreign… milk powder? China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has rejected more than 150 imported food and cosmetic products from the US, Japan, New Zealand, Denmark, and several other European Union nations. My, how the tables have turned and as always, they've turned fast. more ›

Dumex, the powdered-milk unit of France's Danone, is now under investigation in Shanghai for possibly producing milk powder tainted with melamine. 48 Chinese infants who drink Dumex have allegedly suffered kidney illnesses, though the company says there is no evidence right now that the infants were sickened by the milk powder. Source: Xinhua more ›

A Chinese court handed down the sentences for three of the people involved in the contaminated milk scandal, and it wasn't pretty. Zhang Yujun, the head of a workshop that was allegedly China's largest source of melamine, and Geng Jiping, a melamine powder buyer and reseller, were both given the death penalty. more ›

Just when Mengniu's CEO is telling everyone that almost everything is back to normal, two gorillas are suspected of becoming the latest victims of tainted milk. Reuters Newswires quoted a Hangzhou newspaper, reporting that the gorillas, both from Hangzhou Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang province and aged one and three, had been diagnosed with crystallisation in their urine:

Both had been fed with milk powder made by Sanlu Group, at the heart of the scandal in which four infants have died and thousands have fallen sick with kidney stones. more ›