Cadbury said it had carried out tests on products made at its Beijing plant after the scandal, which has sickened some 53,000 Chinese babies. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
HONG KONG - BRITISH candy maker Cadbury said on Monday it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates after tests found they contained the industrial chemical melamine.
A Cadbury spokesman said it was too early to say how much of the chemical was in the chocolates.
Kraft, Mars question Indonesia melamine claims
TWO US foodmakers were investigating Indonesian claims on Monday that high traces of melamine were found in Oreo wafers, M&Ms and Snickers imported from China.
Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said a dozen allegedly tainted products distributed nationwide, including those popular brands, had repeatedly tested positive last week.
HANOI - LAOS has temporarily halted imports of milk from China amid a growing tainted milk scandal, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Authorities found goods that may contain the toxic chemical melamine during an inspection of markets in the capital Vientiane, according to the daily Vientiane Times.
'These are preliminary findings from tests. And it's too early to say where the source was or the extent of it,' the spokesman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
He declined to be named because of company policy.
Cadbury said in a statement it has recalled 11 chocolate products made at its factory in Beijing which are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.
The company said, however, that all its dairy suppliers have been cleared by government milk testing.
Authorities say suppliers might have added melamine, which is rich in nitrogen, to watered-down milk to deceive quality tests for protein.
Earlier on Monday, the British sweet maker recalled its China-made chocolates from shelves in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
The company is the latest fallout from the toxic milk scandal.
Cadbury said in a statement that it had carried out tests on products made at its Beijing plant after the scandal, which has sickened some 53,000 Chinese babies who drank milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine.
'As a result we believe it is appropriate to take a precautionary step to withdraw from the market, all of our Cadbury chocolate products that were manufactured in our Beijing plant... pending further supply of fresh products.'
The statement did not mention melamine, a cheap industrial chemical that has been found in a growing list of Chinese milk- and milk-related products in recent weeks.
Cadbury staff in Hong Kong were not immediately available for comment. It was not known if the Beijing-manufactured products were exported elsewhere apart from Hong Kong.
Asked if government laboratories would check the products for melamine, a government spokesman said: 'We will run checks.'
The 11 brands recalled include Cadbury Eclairs and bulk packets of Dairy Milk chocolate, the statement said.
The chocolates are only distributed in Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as one product line that is sold in Australia, the statement added.
The products are the latest in a ever-growing list of China-made foods and drinks that have been removed from stores here and across the world since the scandal was first exposed earlier this month.
Four children have died in China after drinking milk or milk products laced with melamine, which is usually used in making plastics.
Some manufacturers had been using it to make watered-down milk appear full of protein.
Five children in Hong Kong and one in Macau developed kidney stones after drinking tainted Chinese milk, the only cases outside mainland China. -- AFP, REUTERS
