The New Nation - Internet Edition

CNN, Beijing

Australia, New Zealand and India have joined a growing list of countries pulling contaminated Chinese food products--everything from candy to biscuits--from store shelves.

In Vietnam, authorities have established inspection teams to test milk products, especially those from China, the Vietnam News Agency reported. The Health Ministry said inspection teams would "look into food hygiene and safety standards t involving in milk and dairy products nationwide."

Adding to the growing backlash, India's Health Ministry imposed a three-month ban on the import of Chinese milk and milk products on Wednesday.

It is the latest fallout from a tainted milk scandal that has spread around the world.

White Rabbit Creamy Candies contain unacceptable levels of the chemical melamine, New Zealand Food Safety Authority and Australian food regulators said Wednesday.

"This is a serious concern," said Sandra Daly, deputy chief executive for New Zealand's food safety agency. "We have issued a Director General's statement advising people not to eat these products as we cannot discount the likelihood of health risks resulting from the consumption of these sweets."

The candies have already been recalled in Hong Kong.

In the United Kingdom, the supermarket chain Tesco said Wednesday that it had pulled the children's sweets from store shelves over fears they contained melamine.

The problem first showed up in China in infant formula made with contaminated milk.

Nearly 53,000 children in China have been sickened by it or other products contaminated with the chemical melamine. Four babies have died. More than a dozen countries, from Asia to Africa to Europe, have banned or recalled Chinese milk products.

The United States, meanwhile, said inspectors would expand testing for Chinese products that may contain high levels of milk or milk proteins.

In South Korea, the government banned the importation of all Chinese products containing milk after Chinese biscuits tainted with melamine were discovered in the country, a government spokesman said.

A formal announcement was expected on Thursday, but the ban went into effect Wednesday night, the spokesman for the Korean Food and Drug Safety Authority said.

The biscuits, called Me Sarang Custard, are sold under the label of a popular South Korean confectioner called Haitai but are produced in China.

Authorities in China have arrested 18 people in a nationwide investigation. They include two brothers who face charges of selling contaminated milk; the brothers could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper.

The raw milk used to produce powdered baby formula had been watered down, and the chemical melamine was added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration said its investigators had not found the Chinese infant formula in question during visits to more than 1,000 stores. They were mainly in cities with large Chinese communities, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; and New York.

Meanwhile, health officials in Singapore and Indonesia announced additional recalls of products made with the contaminated milk. Products pulled from store shelves range from flavored milks and ice creams to cookies and candies

Authorities in a variety of places have stopped importing some Chinese products made from milk including Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Burundi, Gabon, Tanzania, Brunei and the Philippines.

Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.

Health experts say that ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition.