HONG KONG - HONG KONG is recalling a Chinese dairy's products after tests found a chemical linked to tainted milk powder that has killed and sickened babies on the mainland.
The recall covers milk, yogurt, ice cream and all other products made by Yili Industrial Group and distributed in Hong Kong, Ms Constance Chan, controller for the territory's Food Safety Centre, said on Thursday.
'I call on the public not to consume any products of this brand,' Ms Chan said, adding that the government has asked the company to stop supplying products in Hong Kong.
The government found the banned industrial chemical melamine in eight of 30 sample products tested by regulators in Hong Kong, said Ms Chan.
The products include milk and ice cream bars coming from two production lines.
Yili expressed its 'deep regret for any distress' caused to Hong Kong consumers in a statement issued on late Thursday.
The company said it was investigating the contamination of its products and working with government authorities to find out the source.
It was the second time Hong Kong food inspectors called back Yili products.
On Tuesday, one sample of a yogurt-flavoured ice bar was found to contain melamine.
The chemical has been discovered in milk powder that has killed up to four babies and sickened 6,200 others in mainland China. There have been no reports of infants sickened by milk powder in Hong Kong.
Yili, one of the mainland's two biggest dairies, was among companies forced to recall baby formula in China on Wednesday in the widening scandal.
So far, all the sick infants in China were found to have consumed milk powder produced by another company.
Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said the government will order further recalls of any Chinese dairy products if they are found dangerous to health.
'We will closely monitor dairy imports from China. We will fully sample these products and test them independently,' Mr Tsang said. -- AP