After toxic melamine in milk powder, now it is the turn of eggs with the poisonous substance, forcing supermarkets in China and Hong Kong to recall a particular brand as "unsafe to eat." As an eastern Chinese city is recalling a brand of eggs after it was found contaminated with melamine, the same chemical blamed for sickening thousands of babies across the country in a milk powder scandal that killed four infants. The bureau of quality and technical supervision of Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Chinese province Zhejiang, said that eggs with the Ciyunxiang brand were unsafe to eat. The number of eggs within the contaminated batch is not known. The melamine is believed to have found its way into the eggs through animal feed fed to chickens.

The Hangzhou bureau has tested 27 brands of eggs, being sold by various companies, in the city. The batch of Ciyunxiang eggs contained 3.5mg of melamine in every kg. Eggs from other brands were deemed safe. There have been no reports that anyone has been sickened by eating the contaminated eggs.

It was reported that eggs produced by Hanwei Foods Co. Ltd in Dalian, Liaoning province, were found by Hong Kong authorities to contain melamine, an official of the Hangzhou bureau said.

In fact tainted eggs were detected in September in the same north-east Chinese city from where contaminated ones sold in Hong Kong originated. According to officials, some eggs were found to be tainted with melamine, which were then destroyed. "We checked eggs in September and when checked again in October, no melamine was found in the eggs," the official said.

The findings have led Hong Kong to expand its testing of food imported from the mainland to pork, farmed fish and offal products.