Beijing (AsiaNews) – Europe, Central America and various Asian countries have stopped importing Chinese products that contain milk and milk by-products out of fear that they might also contain melamine, a chemical substance that killed four Chinese children and made another 53,000 sick.
In China a candy company using milk shut down its production after discovering that its products contain the same substance which, once ingested, can cause urinary problems and kidney stones.
The European Union is banning imports of Chinese baby food that contains any traces of milk
Canada's food safety regulator has recommended a recall of White Rabbit sweets.
Authorities in Singapore said they also found melamine in samples of milk products like yogurt imported from China.
The Philippines has also ordered Chinese-made dairy products off the shelves.
Today South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered his government's food watchdog agency to recall and destroy melamine- tainted Chinese-made food products. Korea imported more than 4,000 tonnes of Chinese dairy-based cream products this year for use in coffee, tea and whip cream.
In South America, Surinam ordered food markets across the South American country to pull popular Chinese-made candy and milk by-products from their shelves. White Rabbit candies have been recalled already in Singapore, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
In Macao and Hong Kong melamine-tainted milk was found in chocolates.
At the Shanghai Zoo even a lion cub and two baby monkeys have developed kidney stones after they were fed milk made by Sanlu, the main company involved in the scandal.