NZ dairy suspends exports of baby-formula product

A New Zealand dairy today suspended exports of a product used mainly in baby formula, after tests found it contaminated with low levels of melamine - the product that sparked the powdered-milk scandal in China.

The Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company’s chief executive Paul McGilvary said it contained four parts per million of melamine.

He said infant milk products in China that have been blamed for killing at least four children and leaving tens of thousands of others ill had melamine levels of about 2,500 parts per million.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority said foods containing up to five parts per million of melamine did not pose a risk to human health.

Mr McGilvary said his company was being cautious because of the melamine scandal in China.