According to the China Daily newspaper, the health department authorities in Guizhou province have ordered the removal of three batches of the supposedly melamine-tainted milk products from the convenience stores in southern China.

As per the information forwarded by Ling Hu, a government spokeswoman of the Guizhou province, sales of dairy products made by three Chinese companies – namely, Shandong Zibo Lusaier Dairy, Laoting Kaida Refrigeration, and Liaoning Tieling Wuzhou Food - have been stopped as they were found to contain melamine.

Melamine, which has high nitrogen content that essentially heightens the protein levels upon being added to milk or animal feed, is meant for making plastics, fertilizers and concrete, and can cause kidney stones.

The decision to pull the stocks of the contentious products comes almost a year after the massive 2008 milk safety scandal – when nearly 300,000 children fell ill and six died.

Investigations into the scandal revealed that the dairy companies had added melamine to watered-down milk to hoodwink inspectors who tested it for protein. As a result, dozens of officials, dairy executives and farmers were penalized.

Hu said that ever since the scandal came to the fore, China had pledged to enforce stricter safety measures as well as intensify inspections of the dairy industry to crack down on distributors selling melamine-tainted milk to the stores.