France bans tainted Chinese milk sweets

French authorities have found Chinese sweets made with milk tainted by the industrial chemical at the centre of a massive international health scare, the agriculture ministry said yesterday.
The ministry ordered an end to sales of "White Rabbit" sweets and "Koala" biscuits in France, and warned consumers to destroy or return them as they have been found to contain the toxic chemical melamine.
In China, four babies have died of kidney failure and at least 53,000 children have fallen sick after consuming products laced with melamine, which fraudulent dairies use to enhance nitrogen levels in watered-down milk.
"The first results of tests conducted in France have shown a melamine level above the warning level set by the European Commission at 2.5 milligrammes per kilo," the statement said.