KEY POINTS:
New Zealand border officials will watch for suspicious Chinese food products after melamine was found in two different types of Chinese food here.
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority first issued a warning yesterday afternoon about White Rabbit Creamy Candy, which was tested at the Herald's request and
found to contain "unacceptably high" levels of the industrial chemical melamine.
It described as a "serious concern" the presence of 180 parts per million of melamine, the banned chemical found in baby milk powder in China.
The authority later said a New Zealand company doing precautionary tests had reported low levels of melamine in a different type of food, which it did not provide details of.
The chemical was a likely consequence of the food-production process and low levels were not harmful.
It asked New Zealand Customs to identify specific risk products from China as they came into the country so they could be sampled and tested.
It said there were no plans to ban Chinese dairy imports but advised people not to eat White Rabbit sweets.
"We have issued a director-general's statement advising people not to eat these products as we cannot discount the likelihood of health risks resulting from the consumption of these sweets," said Sandra Daly, the authority's deputy chief executive.
She advised parents of children who have eaten the sweets to contact their medical practitioner if they have specific concerns, or the authority on 0800 NZFSA1 (0800 693 721) for advice.
"The product appears to come from a number of manufacturers via a number of importers and we are advising against eating any of these products," Ms Daly said.
"The levels we have found in these products are above a level that is acceptable and do raise the potential health concerns."
She said the authority would work with importers to ensure the products they sold met New Zealand food safety standards, and would continue to test risk products - but there were no plans for a "blanket ban" on importing Chinese dairy products.
At least 12 countries have banned Chinese dairy imports after the widening tainted milk scandal that has killed four babies and made 54,000 children in China sick.
Australian food regulators quickly issued a warning to consumers there and asked wholesalers and importers to voluntarily withdraw White Rabbit sweets from shops pending results of further testing.
But some Chinese supermarket operators here said they were not waiting for New Zealand authorities to act.
Bosses of two Auckland-based Chinese supermarket chains - Tofu Shop and Silver Bell, which together operate 17 stores - said they had instructed their branch managers to remove all Chinese dairy products from their stores.
Silver Bell managing director William Huang, who spoke through National MP Pansy Wong, said the chain had taken Chinese dairy imports off the shelves on Monday.
Tofu Shop director Ronald Hoy Fong said: "This isn't China. In New Zealand our customers' health and wellbeing comes first and we are tracing and removing products with dairy components which may have originated from China, after already taking away the obvious ones like milk drinks and milk candies."
But without an official ban or guidelines from local authorities, Mr Hoy Fong said the task was an arduous and difficult one.