Oreo cookies are displayed for sale at a supermarket in Hong Kong yesterday. US foodmaker Mars Inc was investigating Indonesian claims that high traces of melamine were found in Oreo Wafer Sticks, M&M's and Snickers imported from China. China Daily

One of the world's largest chocolate companies announced yesterday its recall of 11 products made in Beijing.

Cadbury Asia Pacific issued a statement yesterday saying it had "received results that have cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China".

The company didn't reveal whether melamine was found in the products.

The foods recalled ranged from dark and milk chocolate to eclairs and hazelnut chocolate.

The products could be found on shelves in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

The company said it would re-supply retail outlets as soon as possible.

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) confirmed that it had been informed of the recall.

The CFS asked the public to stop consuming the affected chocolate products, and it planned to inform retailers to stop selling the items.

The CFS also planned to test the related Cadbury products.

But another large chocolate brand, Mars Inc, would not recall their products, although Indonesian lab reports released Saturday indicated a high level of melamine was found in three mainland-manufactured Mars products: M&M's, Snickers and Oreo Wafer Sticks.

Mars Hong Kong disagreed with the Indonesian test results.

Mars Inc spokeswoman Margaret Wong said independent lab reports conducted on the mainland, in Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia showed the company's products to be melamine-free.

She expressed doubts over the test results in Indonesia, such as the testing method, and whether the products had been contaminated with melamine before the test.

"We will not recall our products for the time being, because we have confidence in our products," she said.

She said the company expects to announce its latest lab reports to the public today.

Thomas Chan, a professor of medicine and therapeutics with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as a member of the government's melamine task force, said the level of melamine reportedly detected by Indonesia would be "extraordinarily high" and harmful to health.

In the interest of protecting their customers, he hoped that all companies test their products.

A spokeswoman for the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department said they will take samples of M&M's, Snickers and Oreos for testing and continue to follow up on the incident with Indonesia.

Shelf space that used to hold Snickers bars are empty after some supermarkets pulled the snacks yesterday. China Daily

Wellcome and ParknShop supermarkets pulled the affected Cadbury and Mars products made on the mainland from shelves yesterday.

Both supermarkets are allowing customers to return the products for a full refund.

A ParknShop spokeswoman said the supermarket will continue to sell the foreign-made products of the two brands.

Some customers yesterday said they had become fearful of eating chocolate.

"I'm so afraid now. I think I should go get a check-up," a woman surnamed Lim said, adding that she ate a pack of M&M's two weeks ago.

A young woman surnamed Chan said: "I won't buy any more chocolate products for the time being".

And a man surnamed Ng said that all these food scandals, from milk to biscuits to chocolates, have scared him, and he planned to avoid products made with milk.

The biscuits were the latest addition to the melamine list, as the CFS detected the chemical in two milk-biscuit samples from the mainland-produced Li Cheng brand. They contained 4.7 and 8.3 parts per million, respectively.

The CFS said the investigation is ongoing and didn't rule out prosecutions.

(HK Edition 09/30/2008 page1)