HONG KONG - A 10-YEAR-OLD child in Hong Kong has developed kidney stones after eating milk products and biscuits tainted with melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastic, authorities said on Friday.

It takes the total number of melamine cases in Hong Kong to 11.

The health department said in a statement the boy had a history of exposure to melamine-tainted milk products and biscuits bought from the local market.

The products were earlier found by the Centre for Food Safety to have been tainted by melamine, which can cause kidney stones leading to renal failure in children.

'It is the latest of the 13 renal stone cases we have received. Of them, we have found that 11 of the cases were connected to melamine-tainted products,' a health department spokesman said.

Until Thursday, the department had received 10,577 enquiries concerning the contaminated products. These included 1,166 people who claimed they had symptoms of renal problems.

At least six children have died in China after drinking milk laced with melamine, and a further 294,000 suffered kidney-related problems.

The chemical can make dairy products appear to have more protein than they actually do.

The scandal has caused international concern and led to recalls of dairy products made in China and bans around the world, although no children outside China are known to have died from the tainted milk. -- AFP