China's Health Ministry says almost 13,000 babies have been taken to hospital suffering from the effects of drinking milk contaminated with the chemical melamine - most 2 years old or younger and four children have already died.
Melamine is a chemical rich in the compound nitrogen which when added to 'watered-down' milk helps it to pass quality inspections, when measures of protein levels are checked.
The number of sick children has now doubled in China's escalating milk scandal which has left many of the Chinese public anxious and distrustful of food quality and food regulations in China.
Ever since China's largest producer of infant milk powder, Sanlu, announced that babies had developed kidney stones and other complications after drinking the tainted milk, hospitals have been overwhelmed with frightened parents demanding attention.
Melamine is an industrial chemical banned from foods and it has been found in 10% of milk and drinking yoghurt samples taken from three major dairy companies.
Premier Wen Jiabao has visited hospitals in the national capital in a bid to reassure anxious parents and assure them that the culprits face harsh punishment and saying the physical health of the public must be made a priority.
In the latest cases a three-year-old Hong Kong girl was found to have a kidney stone after drinking a milk product tainted by melamine - she is the territory's first suspected victim of the milk scandal.
The Chinese Government has now issued recalls for dairy products from 22 companies and the suspicion is that farmers who sell milk to Chinese food companies used the melamine to disguise watered-down milk.