Melamine has been at the centre of an enormous health scandal in China over the past month after it emerged the industrial chemical had been illegally put into watered-down milk to give dairy products the illusion of high protein levels.

Four babies have died of kidney failure and more than 53,000 others sickened after drinking tainted milk formulas, while contaminated Chinese dairy products have been discovered around the world.

Amid a huge reported crackdown by Chinese authorities, the official Xinhua news agency announced on Friday a dairy farmer had been found with the "biggest ever" amount of a protein powder laced with melamine.

The farmer, Zhang Yujun, had produced the 600 tonnes of protein powder in eastern China's Shandong province between September last year and August, Xinhua reported.

Although he made the melamine powder in Shandong, Zhang's farm was in Hebei province, one of China's main dairy regions, which has been at the centre of the scandal.

Aside from arresting Zhang, police also caught eight people who bought the powder, Xinhua said.

Xinhua said police had arrested 36 people in total in Hebei for their involvement in making, selling or adding melamine to fresh milk.

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