Bangladesh warning on milk powder

Bangladesh wants to avoid a repeat of what has happened in China

The Bangladesh government has advised people not to buy eight foreign brands of milk powder after tests appeared to show traces of the chemical melamine.

Three of the brands were imported from China while the rest came from Denmark, Australia and New Zealand.

Swiss firm Nestle, which makes one of the brands, said its products are safe.

Last month Bangladesh stopped importing products containing milk powder from China, where the deaths of four babies are blamed on melamine in dairy goods.

Milk and other dairy products laced with melamine - apparently to fake a high protein content - have been blamed for the sickness of more than 50,000 children in China.

The industrial chemical, normally used in making plastics and fertiliser, is blamed for causing severe renal problems and kidney stones.

Countries around the world have also withdrawn products containing Chinese milk following the scandal.

'Further action'

Bangladesh officials say they have advised people not to buy the eight brands "until further notice".

"It's a big public health concern and we'll sit again on Sunday to take further action," commerce ministry additional secretary Golam Mostakim said.

He said all eight brands had been tested in two other Bangladeshi laboratories but researchers found melamine in only one, a Chinese milk formula.

More tests are to be carried out.

There have been no reports of sickness attributed to melamine in milk powder in Bangladesh, and it is unclear what level of traces of the chemical were discovered in the tests carried out by Dhaka university.

Nestle, which makes one of the powdered milk brands Bangladeshis have been advised not to buy, said that all of its products around the world "are absolutely safe".

"There are no Nestle products made from milk adulterated with melamine," a spokesman said.

He said Nestle was seeking clarification from Dhaka University on its test result. He also pointed out that two laboratories outside Bangladesh had tested the same Nestle product and found it to contain no melamine.