Sanlu, a Chinese dairy company, discovered in June 2008 that its powdered milk was contaminated with melamine, which was illegally added to increase apparent protein content. However, Sanlu and local authorities delayed a public recall of the tainted milk for months, as over 50,000 children fell ill and 4 died, in order to avoid negative publicity during the Beijing Olympics. The contaminated Sanlu milk was traced to be the cause of thousands of infant illnesses and led to a major food safety scandal in China.