Starbucks China pulls Mengniu milk amid scare

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp on Thursday said its 300-plus cafes in mainland China have 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 milk.

In a statement, Starbucks said it removed the milk from supplies voluntarily after it learned that Mengniu had confirmed that certain lots of its liquid milk were tainted.

"Though we believe based on assurances from the supplier that the milk we received from Mengniu is not included in the contaminated lot, due to the serious nature of this warning, Starbucks has voluntarily pulled all Mengniu milk offerings until further notice," Starbucks said.

Four children in China have died and more than 6,000 have become ill with kidney stones after drinking milk laced with the toxin melamine. Among the children reported ill, more than 100 are suffering from acute kidney failure.

Melamine is rich in nitrogen, which is used to measure protein, and can be used to disguise diluted milk. It can cause kidney stones and other organ problems.

Starbucks said it continues to work closely with Mengniu to further confirm that the milk it supplied to the company was not affected. The company said it is working to find alternate milk suppliers until the issue is resolved.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Bernard Orr)