The nationwide melamine scare has triggered a wave of Guangdong residents coming to Hong Kong for safe milk powder products.

As of yesterday, seven out of 18 Guangdong-based milk-food firms had been found to have produced products laced with melamine, and Guangdong authorities have ordered them to stop production and recall all contaminated products, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Bureau Ren Xiaotie said.

The local industrial and commercial bureau has also banned the sale of milk products from the named manufacturers in all markets.

With less supply and increasing worry, a growing number of people in Guangdong province have showed interest in buying milk products in neighboring Hong Kong and Macao.

"I am worrying too much about the quality of milk powder produced locally," said Feng Shuying, who works in Guangzhou and is due to give birth to a baby in November. "So, I will ask friends or family members to buy milk powder in Hong Kong, where the quality is relatively ensured, since it is directly imported from foreign producers."

Feng noted that she is also consuming foreign brands of milk products made specially for pregnant women.

Yi Jieru, who has a 9-month-old girl baby, planned to go to Hong Kong in the next few days. "I want to buy more milk powder, as I am worrying about a possible price increase in the milk products there," she said.

In Hong Kong, sales of milk powder in local drug stores have risen thanks to an increased number of mainland customers.

In Sheung Shui, the closest district to Lo Wu, a drug store's shopkeeper said milk-powder sales have increased 30 percent, and the price of milk powder has also increased a few dollars over the past few days.

"Some mainland customers said they are worried about the quality of the mainland's milk powder. All of them bought imported brands in Hong Kong," he said.

He also said some people from the mainland bought milk powder in big quantities from drug stores in Hong Kong and plan to re-sell the products in Guangdong.

But he said that he will sell milk powder to local customers first.

In another drug store in Sheung Shui, a shopkeeper said sales of milk powder have doubled, but the price hasn't increased.

"The mainland customers especially indicated that they want popular foreign brands," he said.

He said their stock of milk powder is small and he will only sell three or four cans of milk powder to mainland customers.

A shopkeeper in Hung Hom said the sales of milk powder in all drug stores increased after news reports came out on the contamination of some mainland milk powder. But he noted that the milk-powder supply is insufficient.

He said the price of milk powder has increased 30 percent this year, but has been unchanged in the past few days.

As more people from the mainland are coming to Hong Kong to buy milk powder, Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy Chairman Lau Oi-kwok expressed concern that the supply of milk powder to drug stores might not be enough.

The suppliers wouldn't increase the supply even if drug stores asked for more, he said, saying a shortage in Hong Kong may occur.

Spokeswomen for both Wellcome and ParknShop said that as of yesterday, there hadn't been a noticeable trend in people buying more milk powder at either chain.

(HK Edition 09/18/2008 page1)