Shanghai supermarkets have pulled Cadbury chocolate products off the shelves.

The move was in response to a recall statement issued by the British confectionery firm on Monday after two Cadbury chocolate products were found to be tainted with the chemical melamine in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate Bulk Pack 5kg was found to contain 56 parts per million (ppm) of melamine and Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate Bulk Pack 5kg had 6.9ppm of melamine. The legal limit is 2.5ppm.

The firm put a notice on its Website on Monday recalling 11 of its chocolate products made at its Beijing plant from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

Melamine was still being found in dairy products of big brands around the world over the weekend.

South Korea's food watchdog found unacceptable amounts of melamine in Snickers Peanut Funsize and M&Ms chocolate milk made by Mars, KitKat wafers made by Nestle and a biscuit manufactured by Lotte Confectionery.

The companies were withdrawing their products following the announcement by the South Korean Food and Drug Administration.

Nestle China said the batch of tainted KitKats was not sold in China and the corresponding products manufactured in China were clean of melamine based on company tests.

Australian importers have begun withdrawing Kirin Milk Tea made in China after Australian tests confirmed melamine contamination.

Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Kirin Beverage's public relations department as saying on Saturday that melamine had not been detected in the company's milk tea made and sold in China.

Although hypermarkets and supermarkets in Shanghai have started removing Cadbury chocolate products, city industrial and commercial authorities have not withdrawn other products named overseas as suspect.

"We have not received any instruction from state-level authorities to stop selling these chocolates and cookies," said Xu Guizhong, an official with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.

Meanwhile, about 300 tons of new White Rabbit candy have passed quality tests and will have green labels attached to differentiate them from earlier products.

The new White Rabbit candy would be on the shelves from next Wednesday, its Shanghai-based producer, Guangshengyuan Group Co Ltd, said yesterday.

The latest tests on Chinese liquid dairy products found no traces of melamine, the country's top quality supervision agency said yesterday.

According to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the latest tests covered 733 batches of liquid milk, including yogurt, from 76 brands in 22 major and four mid-sized cities.

The agency has so far tested 2,826 batches of liquid dairy products produced after September 14 and found none tainted with melamine.

(Shanghai Daily October 8, 2008)