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MANILA - Two China-made milk products sold in the Philippines have tested positive for melamine, health officials said Friday, ordering that they be removed from store shelves immediately.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said authorities suspect the products, under the brand names Yili and Mengniu, were illegally smuggled into the country as they do not have labels in English.
Duque played down any fears of a public health scare stemming from consumption of the products -- Green Food Yili fresh milk and a Mengniu milk drink.
"There have been no reports coming from our hospitals, whom we ordered to report to us cases of kidney problems that may have some associations with the intake of milk tainted with melamine," Duque said.
The government has shut down a Manila supermarket found to be selling the two brands, Duque said.
Last month, the government ordered Chinese-made milk products to be removed from grocery shelves after tests revealed widespread contamination with the industrial chemical melamine, which makes products appear to have more protein.
Such products have killed at least four children and sickened 53,000 in mainland China, officials have said.
The health department's Bureau of Food and Drugs has cleared 28 other China-made products for sale in the Philippines after they tested negative for melamine content, said its laboratory chief, Maria Lourdes Santiago.
The bureau is testing a second batch of 200 mostly Chinese-made dairy products, with results expected next week, Santiago said. - AFP/vm
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