As China battles a tainted milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened another 50,000+, U.S. officials continue to reassure Americans the products are not on store shelves here.

In China, an investigation turned up the industrial chemical melamine in infant formula made by at least three companies there. The situation has triggered outrage across China, and concerned parents are rushing their children to hospitals as the scare sweeps the country.

Melamine is the same chemical linked to last year’s case of tainted pet food from China that killed thousands of animals across the United States, and led to a recall of millions of dollars worth of pet foods. Melamine is known to cause kidney stones that could lead to kidney failure. As was the case in the tainted pet food scandal, melamine was reportedly added to the milk to boost nutrition levels.

In the U.S., the Food & Drug Administration says it has recently wrapped up an extensive investigation into the supply chain of the Chinese milk makers, including checking more than 1,000 Asian groceries across the country for Chinese manufactured infant formula.

The probe focused on areas of the country with large Chinese communities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York, and none of the suspect products were found.

In addition, the FDA is advising consumers not to purchase infant formula manufactured in China from internet sites or from other sources.

In a related story, the Nestlé Corporation says its dairy products are not linked to the scandal despite a report to the contrary in Hong Kong.

The company has announced that the Hong Kong Government’s Food and Environmental Health Department has just released a report declaring that Neslac Gold 1+, which was mentioned in the media reports, is safe and that no melamine was detected in the product. Neslac Gold 1+ was previously tested by government-approved independent laboratories such as the Hong Kong Standards and Testing Centre Ltd. (18-20 September) and the Food Industry Research and Development in Taiwan (16 September). Neither test detected melamine in the product.

Nestlé says further that it has a very close relationship with its milk producers in China and advises them continuously on the quality of milk production. Nestlé also has the same stringent quality control system in place in its factories in China as in any other part of the world. Over 70 different tests are routinely conducted in the course of producing infant formula and other milk products. In fact, the Chinese authorities have issued official certificates for all tested Nestlé products stating that no melamine has been detected in any of them.