Asia Food Tainting Spreads, Leading to Recall in U.S.

BEIJING — Two weeks after Chinese companies began recalling infant milk formula because of contamination by an industrial chemical, foods tainted with that chemical — melamine — are turning up in other parts of China and Asia, fanning fears in other parts of the world.

In Hong Kong, Heinz Foods this week recalled its vegetable formula baby cereal after some samples of it tested positive for melamine. In Taiwan, Pizza Hut said it had found cheese packets similarly contaminated. Officials in Macao, a Chinese territory, said Friday that the chemical had turned up in koala-shaped cookies made by a Japanese-owned company. And several African nations moved to ban imports of Chinese dairy products this week.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday that some instant coffee and tea drinks, all containing a nondairy creamer made in China, had been recalled for fear of contamination. It is the first recall in the United States growing out of the melamine scare.

The F.D.A. said the King Car Food Industrial Company of Taiwan had called back seven products sold under the Mr. Brown label, mostly sold in stores specializing in Asian foods. The company’s tests in Taiwan had determined that its nondairy creamer, which was made in China, was contaminated by melamine, the F.D.A. said. No contaminated products have actually been found on American shelves.

The F.D.A. also said that it had itself extensively tested milk-based products imported from China into the United States in recent weeks. It said it had found no contamination so far.

Source: Reuters