Authorities on Friday suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products after finding melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar and Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk manufactured in China. The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.

'Retailers and importers have been instructed to recall these products and withhold them from sale,' the AVA said in a statement.

'Consumers who have bought the affected products are advised not to consume them.'

This would be the second time in the short history of this blog that the quality of White Rabbit candies has been called into question. In July 2007, we reported that traces of the cancer-causing agent formaldehyde were found in the candies which are produced in Shanghai by the Guan Sheng Yuan Group.

Meanwhile, the melamine scandal continues to widen around the region:

* Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety has found traces of melamine in Nestle Dairy Farm Pure Milk. And in the first reported case outside of the mainland, a three-and-a-half-year-old Hong Kong toddler has been diagnosed with kidney stones after being fed with Yili milk daily for the past 15 months.
* Public health officials in Taiwan have announced their findings of melamine-tainted instant coffee, milk tea and chicken-and-corn soup. The import of all such products into Taiwan has been banned with immediate effect, including instant coffee made by the popular Taiwan brand Mr Brown in China.
* In Japan, Marudai Food Co. issued a voluntary recall of five China-made products, saying they may contain the toxin melamine
* China ally Myanmar has announced it would "seize and destroy imported Chinese baby formula to safeguard against poisoning by the toxic chemical melamine".
* Brunei has ordered a blanket ban on all China-made milk products and dairy items.
* Malaysia has imposed a "level six import ban" on all Chinese dairy products.
* Bangladesh has also started on a crackdown and ban on three brands of Chinese-made milk powder.
* In Africa, Tanzania and Gabon were the first to impose bans on Chinese dairy products and Burundi has just joined them in the ban.

By Kenneth Tan in News