KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Dutch Lady yesterday issued a statement reassuring consumers that its products are safe for consumption.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, one of the country's top three dairy producers, said all of its 20 products for all age groups, were made from local fresh milk or milk powder sourced from the Netherlands and New Zealand.

The company said it did not import any milk-based products from China, which is recalling dairy products following a melamine contamination.

The dairy industry suffered a huge setback after Chinese officials discovered traces of melamine in baby formula.

Sanlu Group, a Hebei province-based dairy producer partly owned by New Zealand dairy export giant Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug 6, saying about 700 tonnes of melamine-contaminated powder were in circulation.

Melamine, used as an ingredient in plastics, fertilisers and cleaning products, was "highly suspected" to have contaminated batches of Sanlu-brand milk formula.

To date, four babies in China have died from kidney failure and more than 6,000 have fallen ill.

Dutch Lady said it was concerned about the tainted milk problem in China and Hong Kong, and Singaporean affiliates have initiated a recall of some milk products that were sourced from China.

Those products, however, are not available here.