BEIJING: Despite a surprise SMS apology on New Year's Day from China's milk companies to millions of Chinese, parents of babies who suffered because of the tainted milk remain unappeased.

The 22 dairy firms, led by the bankrupt Sanlu, asked for forgiveness for the melamine-contaminated products - a scandal which killed at least six babies and made some 290,000 ill.

In a text message on Thursday night to some 565 million Chinese mobile phone subscribers, the firms said: 'We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to the children and the society. We sincerely apologise for that and we beg your forgiveness...

'We are compensating the affected children and have set up a fund for treatment of ailments that may arise in the future. We wish you a blessed new year.'

China Dairy Industry Association chairman Song Kungang explained the SMS was sent out to 'reassure' the families of affected babies about the compensation.

'Now, all the funds for the compensation are ready and available,' he told the Beijing Evening News, referring to the 1.1 billion yuan (S$235 million) set aside. The association told the official Xinhua news agency the funds would be enough to cover all the medical charges of the victims.

But tearful parents, who held a makeshift press conference on a pavement in Beijing yesterday, wanted more than just money. They insisted on more research by the government into the long-term effects of imbibing melamine.

'The issue of adding melamine into food is a new problem; no one has scientific information or evidence,' said 33- year-old Jiang Yalin, whose baby had consumed the contaminated milk. 'So we are asking for research on how much damage melamine can wreak.'

The plastic-making chemical was added to milk to artificially make its protein content look high. In all, 22 Chinese dairy firms had tainted products in the scandal which came to light last September.

The parents also rubbished the Health Ministry's claim, which it reiterated on Thursday, that all sick babies will get free treatment. 'The government said all the medical care is free, but when it comes to the local level, things change. I have already paid more than 50,000 yuan for the operation and cure,' a father of an affected child told Reuters news agency.

He was among five parents detained and taken to a labour camp on the outskirts of Beijing - a move that had prevented them from holding a formal media briefing. The detention occurred as the scandal was coming to an end, with the chairman of Sanlu, the dairy producer at the centre of this storm, having pleaded guilty to charges two days before.

Tian Wenhui and three other company executives stood trial on Wednesday for 14 hours in a packed courthouse in northern Shijiazhuang city.

But the contrite appearances of the quartet - one of them was in a wheelchair after throwing himself off a building because he felt guilty - did not appease the Chinese public.

Tian had pleaded guilty to charges of 'producing and selling fake or sub-standard' products. While state media said the charge carries the death sentence, the victims' lawyers said that the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

Chinese netizens are furious that the perpetrators of this scandal may not be shot - which is how death row convicts are executed here. Seventeen others have also been charged.

'If such murderous acts do not get the death penalty, then all those people who have been shot by the state since the founding of our nation would feel terribly aggrieved. Indeed, you get shot for small crimes in this country, but live when you commit big crimes,' said one.

Another added: 'Even though I do not have a child who drank the milk, I believe we should not forgive them...such damage to the body would last a lifetime.'

shpeh@sph.com.sg