The Bureau of Standard Jamaica (BSJ) said Tuesday that none of the toxic milk products that have killed four Chinese infants and sickened about 54,000 more, have been found in the island so far.

“We have not found any of the tainted milk from China here, however, we will continue to monitor the situation,” Shernette Muccuth Henry, information manager at the BSJ, told the Observer.

Yesterday at least 12 countries, including Indonesia, Kenya and Colombia, imposed bans on the importation of Chinese dairy products and other foods containing Chinese milk, according to an Associated Press report.

The report said that worries that compromised ingredients may have contaminated other foods like yogurts, cookies and candies have led several more countries, from Canada to Australia, to step up testing of Chinese imports.

It said the health scare had hit hardest in Asia, where nervous parents have rushed their children to hospitals for health check-ups in recent days after China revealed that baby formula – laced with the toxic chemical melamine – had sickened 54,000 infants.

Melamine is a crystalline compound used to make plastics and fertiliser that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

According to AP, the crisis was initially thought to have been limited to Chinese milk powder, but recent testing found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from 22 Chinese companies, including the country’s two largest dairy producers – Mengniu Dairy Group Co and Yili Industrial Group Co.

Tuesday, the BSJ’s Muccuth Henry said that while the bureau’s inspectors were on the lookout for suspicious products, it was working with importers to ascertain whether that particular batch was in fact imported, and if so, the quantities distributed in the marketplace. She further pointed out that more often than not, the recalled products do not enter the ports.

“The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (Bureau) conducts inspections in the marketplace and the ports of entry on a daily basis. This is done for all products entering our ports from anywhere in the world,” she said.

“When a product is recalled in another country, it raises a red flag at the bureau and special emphasis is placed on these products during our daily inspections. The Bureau also works with our counterparts in the region when it comes to these alerts. If any recalled products are seen, they are pulled from the shelves or detained at the ports,” she told the Observer.

Nevertheless, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tuesday warned that the tainted milk powder at the heart of the scandal might be smuggled across borders.

Anthony Hazzard, the Western Pacific director of the WHO, said a network of 167 countries organised by the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation had been advised to focus particularly on smuggled formula.

“I think the greatest fear is if there has been illegal movement of the heavily contaminated products rather than the legal movement of products that may have very low levels of melamine,” Hazzard said.

Muccuth Henry, in the meanwhile, said consumers can also play their part by looking out for recalls, read the labels, ask questions and make informed decisions before making purchases.