Heinz and Mars have been drawn into China's tainted milk crisis, following Cadbury which had to withdraw 11 brands of chocolate from the Far East.

China tainted milk scandal: Heinz and Mars drawn in
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Heinz said it would stop using Chinese milk in its food processing operations in mainland China and Hong Kong after a batch of baby food was found to be contaminated with melamine.

Melamine, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastic, has been blamed for killing at least four babies and making 53,000 other infants sick after being added to milk supplies in China.

Mars meanwhile challenged findings by the Indonesian government that suggested Chinese-made chocolates including Snickers bars and M&Ms were also tainted with melamine.

The government said it was recalling the chocolates from sale, but Mars issued a statement saying both its chocolates and its milk supplies had been cleared by separate tests in China and elsewhere."

"Heinz discovered at the end of last week that one batch of "Heinz Intelligence Many Many Vegetable Cereal" on sale in Hong Kong showed traces of melamine.

All other Heinz varieties were melamine-free, it said.

The decision to recall 270 cases of baby food, and switch to non-Chinese sources of milk, followed the announcement on Monday by Cadbury that it had found traces of melamine in some Chinese-made chocolates.

It is withdrawing all 11 brands from markets supplied by its China plant, including Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the pacific islands of Nauru and Christmas Island.

The Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said 12 products distributed in the country had tested positive for melamine, including M&Ms, Snickers and Oreo biscuits.

Mars said it would comply with a government recall but said that all its products had been cleared by government tests in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia."

"Kraft foods, which makes Oreo biscuits, said it was also questioning the methodology of the Indonesian tests."