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Published: September 30, 2008
BEIJING - China's tainted milk scandal, which has led to bans or recalls in 16 countries and raised fresh concerns about the made-in-China label, spread Monday to big-name Western brands as British candy-maker Cadbury announced a recall of its Chinese-made chocolate.
Cadbury said 11 types of chocolate bars made at its factory in Beijing and sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia were being recalled as a precautionary measure. Tests "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China," Cadbury said in the statement.
In Indonesia, Kraft Foods and Mars also said they would suspend sales of Chinese-made Oreos, M&Ms and Snickers in that country. The sweets were among a dozen allegedly tainted products that tested positive for high levels of melamine last week, according to Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency.
All three companies said none of their products were being recalled or suspended in the United States.
Both U.S. food makers said they were mystified by the Indonesian test results.
Melamine has left four infants dead, sickened more than 54,000 babies and ensnared 22 Chinese dairy companies.
Kraft said none of its Oreo products worldwide, including those sold in Indonesia, are made with milk ingredients sourced from China. The Oreo wafer product that tested positive in Indonesia tested negative in Malaysia, Thailand and Korea, a Kraft spokesman said.
Mars said its two Chinese suppliers of milk powder were not among the 22 tainted Chinese companies.
Police in Hebei province arrested 22 people in an underground melamine distribution network, the state-run New China News Agency said Monday.
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