Milan, Oct 16 - About a tonne of smuggled Chinese powdered milk has been seized in the Italian city of Naples and is suspected of being contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, Italian authorities said on Thursday.
"About a tonne of milk (contaminated) with melamine coming from China has been seized in Naples," Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said on a state radio programme.
But an official from Italy's environmental police whose unit impounded the milk in the southern Italian city told Reuters checks were needed to determine if it was in fact contaminated.
Dozens of countries consuming products with Chinese dairy ingredients have banned their import, recalled products or imposed strict checks after thousands of Chinese children were made sick from drinking tainted infant milk formula.
The Forest Corps, which does environmental policing, has been "sifting through" numerous containers of Asian origin, mostly coming from China, in the Naples port area. It has found banned substances as well as rotten and possibly toxic food, the corps said in a statement.
The corps official said the seized powder had been smuggled into Italy because its import has been banned.