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TAIPEI: Taiwan has banned further imports of Chinese milk products after a scandal over contaminated baby formula that has sickened thousands of children on the mainland, officials here said Monday.
"All Chinese milk products, whatever their brands, are not allowed to be imported immediately," said Wang Chih-chao, an official of the Department of Health.
"The ban will stay (in place) until the Chinese authorities complete their investigation on the scandal," he said. "There is no timeframe for the ban."
However, Chinese milk products which have passed Taiwan's safety tests and are already on the market will not be removed, Wang said.
Sung Yen-jen, deputy director of the Department of Health, condemned China and demanded it apologise to consumers for the scare.
King Car Group, one of Taiwan's major food producers, said it was recalling instant coffee and milk tea products which contain contaminated Chinese milk powder.
The company expects to recall 95 per cent of the products in one week after Taiwanese health authorities ordered the company to pull eight of its instant coffee, milk tea and corn soup products from shelves for being tainted.
"King Car will take full responsibility. We apologise for that," company vice president Lee Yu-ting said.
Earlier this month, Taiwan seized nearly 10 tonnes of milk powder produced by Sanlu Group, the company originally at the centre of the health scare.
Meanwhile, major retailers in Hong Kong said they had pulled more dairy products off their shelves after samples tested positive for melamine.
Supermarket chain Wellcome said it emptied its shelves of all milk powder products from Nestle, plastic-bottled Dutch Lady milk, and canned Mr Brown coffee, following reports they were tainted.
"We are taking the necessary precautions in response to local and overseas government test results as well as recalls from suppliers themselves," a spokeswoman for Wellcome told AFP.
"We have also been receiving customers who want a refund on the products being recalled."
Retailer ParknShop and Mannings have also taken similar moves, according to newspaper reports.
Burundi became the third African country to bar Chinese milk products after Gabon and Tanzania, while Brunei joined neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh in freezing imports.
A Japanese company is recalling thousands of buns made with Chinese milk, fearing contamination.
The health scare erupted after it emerged industrial chemical melamine - normally used to make plastics - had been added to watered-down milk products to make them appear richer in protein.
Melamine, which is normally used for making plastic, can make products look like they are bursting with protein, but consumed in large amounts it can be lethal.
Authorities in China say nearly 13,000 children are still being treated in hospital after drinking tainted milk. Four have died.
- AFP/yb
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