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HONG KONG - Hong Kong will expand its testing of food imported from China after the toxic chemical melamine was found in mainland eggs, a senior official said Sunday, according to a television report.
The city's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) will now test pork, farmed fish and offal products imported from China, government health secretary York Chow said, according to ATV news.
Chow said the centre would step up its testing of eggs imported from the mainland to see if they contained traces of the industrial chemical, the report said.
The CFS revealed Saturday that melamine had been found in a brand of eggs.
The chemical is at the centre of a toxic milk scandal which has rocked China's dairy industry but this was the first example of eggs testing positive in Hong Kong.
Four children have died and 53,000 fallen ill in China after drinking milk or milk products laced with melamine, which is usually used in making plastics.
A total of 10 Hong Kong children have fallen ill with kidney stones after drinking melamine-tainted milk products.
Some Chinese manufacturers had been using the chemical to make watered-down milk appear to have a higher protein content.
An array of China-made foods and drinks have been removed from store shelves around the world since the contamination first came to light.
- AFP/ir
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