SINGAPOREANS who may have eaten three tainted Chinese dairy products recently yanked from stores have little risk of falling ill, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said yesterday.

Tests on recalled brands of strawberry milk, candy and yoghurt ice bars have shown that they contained very low amounts of the potentially harmful chemical melamine.

NOT ALL ARE IMPLICATED 'We must have a proper perspective. In China, they have done a scan of the whole country's 190-over dairy manufacturers, and 20 of them are implicated.' - Dr Chua Sin Bin, the AVA's chief executive officer RELATED LINKS  HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH

The highest concentration found was more than 15 times lower than levels uncovered in tainted infant formula in China.

There, milk laced with nitrogen-rich melamine, which is usually used for making plastics and glues, has killed four children and left more than 50,000 with health problems like kidney stones.

The AVA, Singapore's food safety regulator, called a press conference yesterday to allay public fears about the widening contamination scandal, which has led to bans on China-made dairy products in at least four countries.

Yesterday alone, the AVA received 380 calls and 400 e-mail messages from worried consumers.

The AVA's chief executive officer, Dr Chua Sin Bin, said: 'We must have a proper perspective. In China, they have done a scan of the whole country's 190-over dairy manufacturers, and 20 of them are implicated.'

Officials said Singapore does not import infant milk from China. But about 20 per cent of the liquid milk brought into the country came from the world's most populous nation. Just 5 per cent of cream and 0.02 per cent of the milk powder used in cakes and cookies made in Singapore had its origins there.

AVA tests last week revealed that White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Dutch Lady strawberry milk and Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yoghurt-Flavoured Ice Confection were tainted with melamine. The news sparked an islandwide recall of all China-made dairy products.

But tests also revealed that consumers, including children, would have to eat huge amounts of the dairy products to suffer any ill effects, Dr Chua said.

For example, a child would have to consume 24 pieces of White Rabbit candy, 408ml of the strawberry milk or four ice bars every day for life before developing melamine-related health problems.

Dr Chua said: 'It's not likely that anybody would be consuming these products at this kind of level every day, all his life.'

Even bingeing on the tainted dairy occasionally would not be dangerous because the concentration of melamine is still well below toxic levels, he said.

The body naturally purges small amounts of melamine, said Professor Yap Hui Kim, senior consultant with the National University Hospital's University Children's Medical Institute.

The chemical itself is not poisonous, and causes problems only after accumulating over time. That is when it can form stones and cause kidney failure, she said.

The AVA has already tested more than half of the 400 samples of imported dairy products it has collected.

So far, the results show that melamine contamination appears to be confined to the Chinese products, Dr Chua said.

The AVA has also tested products under the Mr Brown brand which are sold here, including canned coffee, and given them the all-clear. Taiwan has just recalled eight Mr Brown products, including instant coffee mix, but these are not sold in Singapore.

For more information, call the AVA's hotline on 6325-7625 or the Health Ministry's hotline on 1800-225 4122 during office hours.

huichieh@sph.com.sg

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