food

HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam's health ministry has discovered the industrial chemical melamine in 18 food products imported from China and three other countries and has ordered them recalled and destroyed, officials said Friday.

Russian news agencies reported that food inspectors found nearly two tons of Chinese dry milk believed to be contaminated with melamine. And Philippines health officials found melamine in two of 30 milk products from China tested for the chemical.

Australian food regulators recalled China-made Kirin Milk Tea after tests in found the drink contained melamine. It is the fourth product withdrawn from the country's stores in the wake of China's tainted milk scandal.

Milk containing melamine has been blamed for killing four babies and sickening more than 54,000 with kidney stones and other illnesses in China. The contamination has sparked global concerns about food products made with Chinese milk or milk powder and recalls in several countries of Chinese-made products.

The tainted food has also spread to the U.S. where melamine has been found in Chinese-made White Rabbit Creamy Candy sold in California and Connecticut.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that trace amounts of melamine are safe in most foods, except for baby formula. A safety assessment by the agency concluded that 2.5 parts per million -- a tiny amount -- does not raise concerns.

A week ago, the FDA warned consumers not to consume White Rabbit Candy and Mr. Brown coffee products because of possible melamine contamination Recent tests in Vietnam found melamine in dairy products and crackers imported from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to the Ministry of Health's Web site.

It did not list all the brand names that tested positive for melamine, but among them were five different varieties of Yili milk, one of the brands found to be contaminated in China.

"We will intensify our inspections for melamine contamination to ensure the safety of consumers," said Nguyen Thi Khanh Tram, vice director of Vietnam's food safety administration.

Most of the contaminated items were milk and dairy products from China, the ministry said.

However, they also included crackers imported from Malaysia and Indonesia as well as a powdered dairy creamer imported from Thailand. It was not clear whether those products had been produced in those countries or simply shipped to Vietnam from warehouses there.

Even before the test results were announced, retailers across Vietnam had begun removing tons of Chinese dairy products from their shelves, Vietnamese media reported.

Vietnamese authorities have also said they will require all milk products to be tested before they can be imported.

Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III identified the two tainted brands Friday as Mengniu and Yili, which were found to be contaminated in tests in China.

Duque said 28 other products, including M&M chocolate candies, powdered milk and yogurt have been cleared for sale and 200 more were being tested. Additional results may be released early next week.

The Philippine government halted imports and sales of Chinese milk products pending inspections last week.

Russia's ITAR-Tass quoted Russia's chief epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko as saying that 2 tons of dry milk was seized in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, on the Chinese border.

Consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor on Tuesday banned all imports of Chinese dairy produce.

AP-WS-10-03-08 1130EDT