BEIJING — The former chairwoman of the dairy company at the heart of China’s tainted milk scandal went on trial Wednesday on charges of selling fake or substandard products, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Tian Wenhua, former board chairwoman and general manager of Sanlu Group Co., and three other top executives who also went on trial Wednesday could face the death penalty if convicted.

The high-profile trials and the release of details in a 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) compensation plan signal that authorities hope to end what was widely seen as a national disgrace, highlighting widespread food safety problems and corporate and official malfeasance.

Infant formula contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine has been blamed for the deaths of at least six children and sickening nearly 300,000 others. Authorities say milk suppliers mixed the nitrogen-rich powder into raw milk in order to fool quality tests for protein. When ingested in larger amounts, melamine can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.

It was not known how long the trials at the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court in northern China would last or when the verdicts would be announced.

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