Milk producer Shaanxi Renrengao Dairy Co., Ltd., has suspended production after its milk was blamed for the food poisoning of about 200 school children in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, said a vice general manager of the company Thursday.

An investigation by the provincial food safety commission into the cause of the food poisoning was underway, said Liu Shuangbao.

"We suspect that the food poisoning could have been caused during distribution." Liu said. "Milk packages may have been broken in transport and the milk went bad."

The milk contained excessive amounts of harmful E.coli and other bacteria, according to a local health authority report.

About 200 middle and primary students started to vomit and had stomach aches after drinking school breakfast milk, supplied by Renrengao, a privately-run business, Monday in two counties of Shaanxi.

Most of the students had been discharged from hospital, but eight remained for further medical observation.

(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2010)