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BEIJING: Eggs suspected of being tainted with the industrial chemical melamine have been pulled from shelves of major retailers in southern China, state press reported Tuesday.
Retailers in Guangzhou city began recalling eggs produced in northeast China after Hong Kong authorities announced over the weekend the discovery of melamine in mainland Chinese eggs, the Guangzhou Daily said.
French retail giant Carrefour and other domestic retailers such as Huarun Wanjia and Baijia removed the "Kekeda" brand of eggs produced by the Hanwei Group, one of China's biggest egg producers, the report said.
The contaminated eggs in Hong Kong were from Hanwei.
Four children have died of kidney failure and 53,000 fallen ill in China this year after drinking milk or consuming dairy products laced with melamine, which is usually used in making plastics and fertilisers.
The melamine was added into the milk to give it the appearance of having higher protein levels.
The discovery of melamine in eggs has raised concerns about contamination spreading through China's food chain.
A UN agency called Tuesday for China to immediately disclose if an industrial chemical found in dairy products had been used in livestock feed and contaminated the wider food chain.
The recent discovery of melamine in mainland chicken eggs sold in Hong Kong has triggered worries that the chemical was present in a wide range of foods such as farm-raised meats and fish, a UN official said.
Zhang Zhongjun, programme officer with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, told AFP that China's agriculture ministry was investigating the possibility that melamine had been mixed into farming feed.
“But we do not know the details of the investigation... we want them to immediately report to us the results of their findings," Zhang said.
"If the feed is found to be contaminated, then there is the possibility (that pork, chicken, fish and beef could also be contaminated)."
Zhang said that feed producers could have laced their products with melamine to falsely boost protein content, similar to the methods of milk producers in a scandal that has left China's dairy industry in shambles.
The Hanwei Group has refused to comment on whether its eggs were tainted with melamine. Phone calls by AFP to the company headquarters went unanswered on Tuesday.
Press reports said Beijing branches of Hanwei denied the existence of tainted eggs.
- AFP/yb
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