Two merchants were sentenced to prison Thursday in the first convictions over sales of phony milk powder that killed at least 12 infants in an eastern Chinese city, Shenzhen Daily reported Friday.

More than 130 people were arrested following the deaths in April in Fuyang, Anhui Province, which prompted a crackdown on rampant counterfeiting of infant formula. At least 229 infants in Fuyang suffered malnutrition after drinking the fake milk, made mostly of starch and water.

Merchants Li Xingdao and Zhu Xuejun were sentenced to eight years and one year, respectively, for violating hygiene rules by selling the milk powder, CCTV said.

Li, a shopkeeper in Taolao Township, Linquan County, was convicted of selling a sub-standard formula that caused the death of a four-month-old girl in December last year.

He was also fined 1,000 yuan (US$121).

"Acting out of a profit motive, he deliberately sold food products that he knew did not conform with the standards," the county court said in its ruling.

The baby girl was identified only by her nickname Tiantian.

"The eight years in jail are deserved," said a staff member at Linquan People's Hospital, where Tiantian died late last year.

"Although it's mainly a problem with the manufacturer, the retailer should also shoulder responsibility," said the staff member, surnamed Li.

Zhu, a shopkeeper in Taihe County, received a one-year term in a parallel trial at the Taihe court. He was fined 1,500 yuan.

The sentences could mark the beginning of a lengthy legal aftermath of the baby milk scandal.

The phony formula was sold to poor families at village grocery stores.

Children's heads swelled while their limbs withered, signs of edema, a symptom of malnutrition.

Premier Wen Jiabao ordered a crackdown after the deaths in Fuyang, and investigators said they found thousands of boxes of fake formula throughout China.

Those arrested in Fuyang include two government officials accused of covering up a baby's death.

Fuyang's mayor was reprimanded and one of his deputies was fired. Dozens of other officials were demoted or reprimanded.

The rate of exclusively breast-fed infants has fallen from 76 percent in 1998 to 67 percent now, according to the United Nations Children's Fund in China.

Source: Shenzhen Daily