BEIJING — China executed two people today for their roles in a tainted milk powder scandal in which at least six children died and more than 300,000 became sick.

Zhang Yujun was executed for endangering public safety and Geng Jinping was executed for producing and selling toxic food, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Their sentences were upheld in March by an appellate court in the northern city of Shijiazhuang.

Xinhua said news of the execution had been issued by the Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's Court, although a court clerk who answered the phone today said he was unable to confirm the sentences had been carried out.

The case was one of China's worst food safety scandals, involving tainting of infant formula with the industrial chemical melamine, which can cause kidney stones and kidney failure. Melamine, used in the manufacture of plastics and fertilizer, was added to watered-down milk to fool inspectors testing for protein, and to boost profits.