Beijing, Nov 5 - The owner of a Chinese feed factory suspected of adding melamine to its product which turned up in tainted eggs has been detained, state media said on Wednesday.
Chinese products ranging from milk powder to chocolate and yoghurt have been recalled throughout the world due to contamination fears. Melamine, used in making plastic chairs among other things, is added to cheat in nutrition tests.
Four infants have died and tens of thousands fallen ill in the scandal, the latest to sully the made-in-China brand.
Chinese eggs came under the spotlight after Hong Kong food safety authorities found tainted eggs produced by Hanwei Group in the northeastern port city of Dalian in Liaoning province.
The Public Security Bureau in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, announced on Tuesday that the melamine, found in eggs of Hanwei Group, came from poultry feed, Xinhua news agency said.
Police had "criminal detained" Gao Xingtao, the owner of Shenyang Mingxing Feed Factory, which sold 212 tonnes of tainted feed to Hanwei, it added.
Hanwei apologised to consumers and distributors last week. Its chairman, Han Wei, said the company had never bought melamine or added the compound to feed or products.
Milk companies in the southern province of Guangzhou meanwhile have been ordered to dispose of tainted products appropriately after a waste disposal company poured 18 tonnes of milk into a river, sparking complaints of a foul smell and fears about contaminated drinking water.