Tainted milk fears spread to Britain, New Zealand

By GILLIAN WONG - Associated Press Writer
EXCERPT:

The British supermarket chain Tesco pulled a Chinese candy from its shelves and New Zealand said Wednesday it found dangerously high levels of the industrial chemical melamine in the same brand, as fears over tainted milk spread beyond Asia.

More than 54,000 Chinese babies have been sickened after drinking formula made with tainted milk and four have died. More than a dozen countries have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products _ the latest was France which does not import Chinese dairy products but has halted imports of Chinese biscuits, candy or other foods that could contain Chinese dairy derivatives.

The government described the measure as a precaution.

Indonesia on Wednesday also distributed a list of 28 products that it said may contain tainted Chinese milk, including Oreo cookies, Snickers bars and M&M chocolate candies.

Worries that compromised ingredients may have contaminated other foods like yogurt, cookies and candies have led several more countries, from Canada to Australia, to step up testing of Chinese imports. The Chinese government seized control of the dairy at the center of the tainted milk, which reportedly received complaints about its infant formula as early as December 2007.

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