Over the weekend, Taiwan found that China's Sanlu Group had exported 25 tons of milk powder packaged in 1,000 bags containing the toxic chemical melamine to the island. Chemical melamine is used in the production of plastics, glue and fertilizers.

The melamine issue first caused a scare in China itself, with authorities there saying yesterday that more than a thousand of children had been taken to the hospitals after consuming contaminated products.

At least one child died and more than 50 were in critical condition, reports said.

Milk for bakers

Taiwan's Department of Health said yesterday that the destruction had started of 590 bags which had not been opened yet. Inspectors from local health departments had first sealed the bags before starting to destroy them, the government said.

The remaining 410 bags of milk powder were distributed to bakers and other food processing companies.

Of those, 50 bags had been used to make food products already sold to consumers, the Department of Health said. The products include bread, pastry, biscuits, and coffee drinks, but officials said the powder was used in small quantities unlikely to cause problems.

The Department of Health said it was confident it could track down and destroy the final 360 bags before their contents reached the public.

The government announced a ban on imports of all Sanlu products from China over the weekend, while asking the Chinese authorities for more details about the contamination and the distribution of the contaminated milk powder. In a reaction, the government also promised tighter supervision of Chinese dairy products.

Consumers who feel their health may have been affected by products containing the melamine can apply for compensation from the importers, the government's Consumer Protection Commission said yesterday.

The Straits Exchange Foundation, the semi-official organization in charge of talks with China, said it asked Beijing for explanations Sunday evening, and also for assistance in aiding Taiwanese consumers with eventual compensation demands from the Sanlu Group.

In addition, the Control Yuan, the nation's top government watchdog, said yesterday it would investigate whether any Taiwanese officials were responsible for the matter due to their eventual slow response.