More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced.
The figure is five times higher than previously announced.
Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China.
Chinese state television reported that the chemical melamine had been found in 22 brands of powder - not one as previously thought.
Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with "acute kidney failure" had risen to 158.
The government has called the poisonings a "Level 1" food safety incident and formed an emergency team to grapple with the fallout, Xinhua news agency reported.
But rising public anger, expressed on China's active internet forums, is prompting reports of a crackdown by the government on reporting of the milk scandal.

That anger was reflected outside the headquarters of the company blamed for making the contaminated formula, Sanlu Group, in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, where distraught parents gathered on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Businessman Yang Letong, 34, told the agency his toddler twin daughters had drunk Sanlu products since they were born.
"So what if they give us our money back, you can't give our children their health back," he said.
"I am angry," he said, tears welling in his eyes. "I'm furious."

Arrests
Sanlu has apologised, saying that suppliers who sold the milk had apparently added the chemical.
Normally used in the manufacture of plastics, melamine makes foods appear higher in protein, but has caused kidney stones in babies in several Chinese provinces.
News emerged of the problem only after a New Zealand company, Fonterra, which owns 43% of Sanlu, informed New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who then informed the Beijing government.
Four people have so far been arrested in connection with the scandal, with more expected. Twenty-two others are being questioned.
Vice-health minister Ma Shaowei warned on Monday that as many as 10,000 infants may have drunk the contaminated milk.

Fourth baby dies from tainted formula

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported the death of a fourth baby Thursday in the country's expanding contaminated infant formula case. The tainted milk powder has already sickened more than 6,200 babies.

Earlier in the day, authorities announced the arrest of 12 more suspects in the investigation, provincial police said.

The arrests bring to 18 the number of people detained, according to the Hebei Public Security Bureau.

Twelve of those arrested are involved in the collection of milk and the production of milk products, authorities said. Authorities accuse the other six of illegally selling the chemical added to the milk.

More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized, said Li Changjiang, China's director of quarantine and inspection, on Wednesday. Their conditions include malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure.
Inspectors have been deployed across the country to test producers' inventories.

Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have stopped production, Li said. Investigators are testing samples at the other companies.

Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper.

The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said.

Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper reported.

The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, which carries a possible death penalty, the paper said.

Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation.

The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants.

Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled, including pullbacks by Mengniu Dairy Group, China's largest milk producer, and the Sanlu Group.

Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical.

It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily.

In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper.

The vast majority of the tainted formula was consumed domestically, but it is known to have been exported to Taiwan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad and Burundi, according to Li.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said no Chinese baby formula has been allowed on the market in the United States. In a statement on its Web site, the FDA said it had reached out to all five companies making formula in the United States and none has used formula or source materials from China.

This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China:

Thousands of pets in the United States became ill, some dying, last year after eating food imported from China tainted with melamine, the same chemical found in the powdered milk.
Last October, at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys were recalled in the United States over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint

In November, it was found that the popular toy Aqua Dots was contaminated with a toxic chemical that turned into a powerful "date rape" drug if swallowed
In February, a Maryland candy distributor pulled Pokemon-brand Valentine lollipops from store shelves after bits of metal were found in the sealed treats, authorities said.

Nearly 53,000 children in China are now known to have been made ill by milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, officials say.
About 13,000 of the victims remain in hospital, the health ministry added. Four children have died.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has visited sick children in hospitals and apologised for the food scandal.
Most victims are under two years old, and at least 104 of those in hospital are in a serious condition.
The health ministry announced the new figures Monday. It said the sick children had consumed milk powder from the Sanlu Group, the company where the contamination was first revealed two weeks ago.
Local media reports suggested the new number was the result of health officials' checks of hospital records from May this year to trace the origins of the contamination.

At least 22 other companies have since become involved in the scandal, and milk products made by the Yili, Mengniu and other groups have been recalled from supermarket shelves.
In Hong Kong, the two main supermarket chains, Wellcome and Park'n'Shop, are now recalling products made by Nestle, Dutch Lady and Mr Brown.
A local newspaper, the Chinese language Apple Daily, had conducted an unofficial test on Nestle pure milk and found traces of melamine. The result was later confirmed by Hong Kong government tests.
"Based on the low level detected, normal consumption will not pose major health effects. However, it is not advisable for small children to consumer the milk product," a spokesman for the government's Centre for Food Safety said.
Nestle said in a statement late on Sunday that it is "confident" that none of its Chinese-made products are made with milk contaminated with melamine. It said it "has the same stringent quality control system in place in its factories in China as in any other part of the world."
A three-year old girl in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with a kidney stone after drinking two glasses of Yili high calcium low-fat milk product for more than a year. Her symptoms were described as "mild". Tests are continuing on other infants in the territory.
In Taiwan, shops shelves carrying the Mr Brown brand of "three-in-one" coffee, in which coffee is mixed with sugar and milk, have been cleared.
In Singapore, the Chinese-made White Rabbit milk sweet has been found to carry traces of melamine and is being recalled, officials there said. Recalls of Chinese-made dairy products are now under way in Japan, Malaysia, and Brunei as well.

'Trust us'
Mr Wen said he felt "extremely guilty" about the health scandal.
"I sincerely apologise to all of you," he said, after visiting sick children in hospital.
"What we are doing now is to ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again, and we are not only talking about milk. We will never let the same situation repeat with any kind of product.
"We can understand why parents have lost confidence (in hospitals). After the incident, there was a grave disturbance in my heart.
"Please trust us. We will empty the shelves of any milk product found to have a problem and destroy it so it cannot show up anywhere else."
Mr Wen also threatened harsh punishments for those found responsible for the contamination.
"Public confidence can only be rebuilt on merciless punishment," he said. "None of those companies lacking professional ethics or social morals will be let off."
Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which makes products appear to have a higher protein count. Health experts say that ingesting small amounts does no harm, but sustained use can cause kidney stones and renal failure, especially among the young.

Melamine gang' detained in China

Chinese police have arrested 22 people suspected of producing melamine - the chemical found in milk products which have made thousands of babies ill.
Those arrested are accused of introducing the industrial chemical into the supply chain.
Police raided dairy farms and milk purchasing stations in northern Hebei province, and seized more than 220kg (485lb) of melamine.
Chinese milk products have been recalled from all around the world.
As well as making about 50,000 babies ill, the tainted milk products have also been blamed for the deaths of four babies.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua said that of the 22 people detained, 19 were managers of 17 pastures, breeding farms and milk purchasing stations.

More than 800 police were involved in the raids on 41 locations in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, Xinhua said.
Police said the melamine had been produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations.
Xinhua quoted one of those arrested as saying he had been producing "protein powder" containing melamine since last year.
Another suspect was quoted as saying his milk had always been rejected by Sanlu, the company where the toxic milk was first discovered last month which is headquartered in Shijiazhuang.
He said he was told that lacing his milk with melamine could increase the proportion of protein and would help his milk pass the Sanlu test. So he began tainting the milk, Xinhua reported.

Growing toll
Thousands of children have been hospitalised with kidney illnesses and four have died after drinking milk formula tainted with the chemical.
China's dairy industry is on the brink of collapse, and importers of food products containing any Chinese milk products are being recalled from shops around the world.
Burma's Commerce Ministry has joined the round of recalls by saying that all Chinese dairy imports had been barred since last week, according to the government-affiliated weekly Myanmar Times. China is Burma's biggest trading partner.
More than a dozen Asian and African countries, plus the 27-member European Union, have taken steps to ban or otherwise limit consumption of Chinese milk-product imports. Laos, Mali and Niger on Monday became the latest to order such measures.
Besides the toll in mainland China, five children in Hong Kong, one in Macau, and four people in Taiwan have reportedly developed kidney stones after drinking tainted Chinese products.
Officials are trying to restore the reputation of Chinese manufacturing with an overhaul of the country's milk collection system, the China Daily newspaper said.
The Chinese government says it is facing the spreading problem candidly, but rights organisations say that coverage of the scandal is controlled, and those trying to help victims are being harassed.
"China has tightened its grip on media freedom to contain rising nationwide outrage at tainted milk products," China Human Rights Defenders, a network of domestic and foreign human rights activists, said in an emailed report.
The rights group said the central government had ordered all Chinese media to toe the official line on the issue, thereby preventing exposure of "deep-seated problems in the system".
Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which makes products appear to have a higher protein content.
Health experts say that ingesting small amounts does no harm but sustained use can cause kidney stones and renal failure, especially among the young.