Chinese suppliers trying to boost output are believed to have diluted their milk while adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein content. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG - THREE more children outside of mainland China have grown kidney stones after drinking Chinese-made milk products, and Hong Kong regulators found tainted cake as the country's food safety crisis spread further.
A 16-month-old in the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau was diagnosed after being fed Nestle milk powder made in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province, the government said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The patient's condition wasn't immediately known.
The three new cases brought the total number of children with milk-related kidney stones outside of mainland China to five.
No government tests have found melamine in Nestle milk products.
The industrial chemical is at the heart of China's milk scandal, with melamine-laced infant formula sickening 54,000 Chinese children and killing four.
Nestle spokesman Robin Tickle said the Swiss manufacturer was 'deeply sorry' that the child in Macau was ill but maintained its products are safe. He said Nestle officials were trying to contact the child's doctor and parents.
The two patients in Hong Kong, boys 2 and 9 years old, were both in stable condition, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.
Both boys were born in Hong Kong but live in China.
The younger child started drinking milk made by the Chinese dairies Yili Industrial Group and Sanlu Group - the first company exposed for selling tainted milk products - when he was 8 months old, government spokesman Suzanne Lee said.
The older boy had been drinking two to five packs of milk made by Mengniu Dairy Group every day for the past four years, Ms Lee said.
At least some milk products made by Yili, Sanlu and Mengniu have been confirmed to contain melamine.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong food tests found melamine in the Four Seas brand of strawberry flavored cake.
Four Seas spokesman Tracy Chan said on Wednesday the cake was made with Mengniu milk at its factory in the southern Chinese city Shantou. She said the company has recalled the cake and was checking if its other products were made with Chinese milk.
Chinese suppliers trying to boost output are believed to have diluted their milk while adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein content.
Health experts say ingesting a small amount of the chemical poses no danger, but melamine, usually used to make plastics and fertiliser, can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.
