BEIJING: China's toxic milk scandal escalated yesterday as one of the nation's famous candy brands was pulled off shelves and four more people outside the mainland were thought to have fallen ill from tainted milk.

The maker of White Rabbit candy - a candy given to US president Richard Nixon on a landmark 1972 trip - announced it was halting domestic sales after its products were found to contain melamine, a chemical used to make plastic.

The move came as a hospital in Taiwan said it believed three children aged 2-3, who frequently visited Hong Kong and mainland China, had fallen ill with kidney stones by drinking tainted Chinese milk formulas.

The mother of one of these, from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, who drinks milk daily, had also developed kidney stones, the National Yang-Ming University Hospital said.

l Chinese provinces have reported nearly 10,000 additional cases of children who have developed kidney illnesses after drinking toxic milk formula in recent days, local media reported.