CHINA'S contaminated baby milk powder, which has killed two babies and affected almost 600 others, is the result of sabotage, the New Zealand partner of the Chinese company involved says.

Andrew Ferrier, the head of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, said yesterday that unknown parties were behind the industrial sabotage.

Fonterra owns 43% of the Chinese Sanlu Group, whose tainted infant formula was publicly recalled only last Thursday, more than a month after the company found out about the problem.

Mr Ferrier said Sanlu had bought raw milk from third parties "who were putting what appears to be melamine in the milk".

"In this case we frankly have sabotage of a product," he said, defending Fonterra's failure to do more to ensure a public recall by claiming it was following the Chinese processes.