A 3-year-old Hong Kong girl has been diagnosed with a small kidney stone after drinking Chinese-produced milk contaminated with an industrial chemical, but is in good condition and does not require surgery.
And Hong Kong Disneyland said it dropped Chinese dairy Mengniu as its milk supplier at the park and its two hotels earlier this week and will switch to New Zealand Australian-made milk.
It is the first sickness reported outside mainland China in a scandal involving dairy products containing melamine which have killed four children and sickened more than 6200 others.
The girl had no symptoms of kidney disease, so she was discharged from the hospital without surgery or medication, a spokeswoman for Princess Margaret Hospital said.
The spokeswoman only gave her surname, Ma, in line with hospital policy. Some kidney stones pass naturally, and doctors will monitor the girl's condition, Ma said.
The girl had been drinking low-fat milk made by the Chinese dairy Yili Industrial Group Co every day for the past 15 months, the government said in a statement.
Yili said in a statement it will pay for the girl's medical expenses if it is confirmed her illness was caused by the company's contaminated milk.
Mainland authorities have recalled milk and dairy products from 22 Chinese companies -- including Yili and Mengniu Dairy Group Co -- after samples were found to contain melamine.
The Hong Kong government and individual retailers and dairy companies have also tested local inventories and issued recalls in the separately ruled Chinese territory.
The Hong Kong government said its tests have found melamine in Chinese-made Nestle brand milk and ordered the product recalled.
The government said in a statement that the chemical was found in Nestle's Dairy Farm brand milk for catering use. It said the milk was made by Nestle Qingdao, located in the Chinese coastal city Qingdao.
The tests found only a small amount of melamine and the milk does not pose a serious health risk, the government said.
However, it recommended that it not be fed to young children.
Nestle said in a statement it is "confident" that none of its Chinese-made products is made with milk contaminated with melamine.
The Swiss manufacturer said it "has the same stringent quality control system in place in its factories in China as in any other part of the world."
Hong Kong Disneyland said it dropped Chinese dairy Mengniu as its milk supplier at the park and its two hotels earlier this week and will switch to Australian and New Zealand-made milk on Monday.
Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk.
Though health experts believe ingesting minute amounts poses no danger, melamine can cause kidney stones, which can lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
