China's toxic milk scandal escalated Friday as one of the country's best-known candy brands was pulled off the shelves and more nations around the world imposed curbs on Chinese imports.
The makers of White Rabbit -- a hugely popular candy presented to US president Richard Nixon on his landmark 1972 trip -- announced it was halting domestic sales after its products were found to contain melamine.
It came as the European Union said it planned to stop imports of some products containing milk from China, joining a growing list of nations and regions that had already banned or restricted milk products from the country.
"Europe will continue to expect higher standards as Chinese consumers expect the same," Peter Mandelson, EU Trade Commissioner, told reporters Friday on a trip to Beijing.
White Rabbit producer Guanshengyuan had previously recalled exports after Singapore authorities said they had tested positive for melamine, a chemical which is normally used to make plastic, a spokesman said.
"We've recalled white Rabbit Candy for export overseas, and we are temporarily halting domestic sales," said the spokesman, who declined to be named.
The decision is the latest twist in an embarrassing scandal that has so far sickened 53,000 Chinese children and killed four, after they drank contaminated milk.
Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said last Sunday that White Rabbit samples imported from China were contaminated with melamine, which can make milk appear richer in protein.
Shanghai's quarantine bureau is conducting its own tests on the candies, but the results have yet to be released, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
On Thursday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommended a recall of White Rabbit candies, and Britain's biggest retailer Tesco has said it has also withdrawn the brand.
In Hong Kong, supermarket chains ParknShop and Wellcome said they had taken the Chinese-made Lotte's Koala Cookies off their shelves after Macau's health bureau found they contained excessive levels of melamine.
India and Libya on Thursday banned imports of Chinese milk products, while Gabon said it was sending back tens of thousands of boxes of contaminated milk powder.
Togo and Benin also halted imports along with Suriname, where Chinese-made sweets were stripped from supermarket shelves.
So far, the only five known cases outside mainland China of children falling ill from drinking tainted milk have been reported in Hong Kong, where authorities said fresh milk would be checked for melamine at the border.
The World Health Organisation warned on Friday there could be more deaths linked to the toxic milk scandal.
"There could be more deaths but we don't believe it will be a high number," Hans Troedsson, China country director of the WHO, told journalists in Beijing on Friday.
But he suggested the scandal could be reaching its peak.
"We might be starting to see the end of it, even if I don't think we are yet at that level, because there is now vigorous testing, not only by Chinese authorities but in other countries."
The WHO also said it was unlikely that ongoing exposure to high levels of melamine could lead to other health problems in human beings.
In a statement emailed to AFP, it said there was enough evidence on animals that melamine could produce cancer "under conditions in which it produces bladder stones," but added there was inadequate evidence for risks of cancer in humans.
The scandal has not just affected humans -- two orangutans and a lion cub at a zoo in eastern China have been diagnosed with kidney stones after being fed milk powder containing melamine, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
The zoo planned to bring other animals that had been fed with the milk for check-ups in the next few days, it added.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
China pulls top candy off shelves
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