Seattle, Sep. 24 - Starbucks Corp, which last week pulled milk from Mengniu Dairy at its 300-plus stores in mainland China amid a safety scare, said Wednesday it had begun using fresh milk from Kowloon Dairy Food Products Co Ltd in 55 of its stores in South China.
Starbucks said Kowloon's dairy products have been confirmed safe by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Guangzhou Technical and Quality Bureau, which are government safety watchdogs.
The Seattle-based coffee shop chain said last week it voluntarily pulled milk supplied by Mengniu Dairy, one of the companies whose product has tested positive for melamine contamination.
Starbucks said that no employees or customers were sickened by the Mengniu milk.
Several children have died and thousands have fallen ill with kidney stones after drinking milk laced with the toxin melamine.
Melamine is rich in nitrogen, which is used to measure protein, and can be used to disguise diluted milk.
China has fired a string of top executives for failing to prevent the toxic milk scandal that has also caused nearly a dozen countries to ban China-made dairy products.
Starbucks said it continues to look for milk suppliers for its remaining stores in mainland China, which are offering alternatives such as soy milk to customers.