BEIJING - CHINA'S prime minister vowed on Sunday to head off further food safety incidents as a Hong Kong toddler became the first child outside the mainland to fall ill after drinking Chinese-made milk powder.

Wen Jiabao appeared on state television to offer reassurances as the effects of the poisoned milk scandal continued to spread, with many countries banning imports of Chinese dairy products.

Hong Kong finds melamine in Nestle milk HONG KONG - THE Hong Kong government says its tests have found the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese-made Nestle brand milk. The government said in a statement late on Sunday that the chemical was found in Nestle?s Dairy Farm brand milk for catering use. It said the milk was made by a Nestle subsidiary in the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao. ... more

'What we want to do now is prevent this happening again, not just with milk products, but with all foods,' Mr Wen told Chinese residents in the broadcast.

'We want to prevent similar incidents occurring so that the common people can eat in peace.'

Mr Wen's comments came a day after China's cabinet ordered an all-out effort to curb the threat from contaminated dairy products.

Four babies have died and more than 6,000 have been made sick by milk powder contaminated with an industrial chemical, according to government statements, in the latest in a string of health scandals to tarnish Chinese-made goods.

The scare has spread from milk powder to regular milk, yoghurt and ice cream from some of China's biggest dairy manufacturers.

The chemical, melamine, is normally used to make plastics but had been added to give the milk products the appearance of higher protein content.

Eighteen people have been arrested in China over the scandal, state media have said.

A three-year-old Hong Kong girl has developed a kidney stone after drinking Chinese milk powder, the government there has said, making her the first such case outside mainland China.

Doctors found a stone in the child's left kidney and referred her to hospital, but she was discharged and her condition is good, the government said.

Hong Kong earlier ordered a recall of Chinese milk powder made by dairy giant Yili after discovering it contained melamine.

China has ordered a massive dairy product recall and tighter supervision of the industry.

Other countries also have taken their own steps to prevent the dangerous products reaching their shores.

Brunei suspended the import and sale of all Chinese-made milk and milk products on Sunday, following similar actions by Singapore and Malaysia this week.

Myanmar, a close ally of China, announced on Saturday it would seize and destroy imported Chinese baby formula.

China's official Xinhua news agency reported from Wellington on Sunday that New Zealand baby formula brand Nurture said some babies had fallen ill after consuming its products.

The report did not mention whether the product originated from China.

Chinese milk powder maker Sanlu, which has been affected by the contamination, is 43-per cent-owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.

Wen, , following visits to local supermarkets and hospitals where sickened babies were being treated blamed the crisis on a lack of 'professional, social, and public morals' among dairy producers.

The problem first came to light last week in China's state-controlled media.

However, some Chinese press reports said the scam had been going on for years, with China's chaotic and corrupt food safety system unable to detect or prevent it. -- AFP