Chinese authorities said they are investigating how eggs came to be contaminated with the same industrial chemical that sickened thousands of babies, as cases of tainted eggs turned up in Hong Kong and the mainland.

On Wednesday the state news agency Xinhua reported that the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou was recalling eggs of the Ciyunxiang brand after discovering it is contaminated with melamine. However, a countrywide recall has not been announced.

The citizens of Hangzhou had urged the city's bureau of quality and technical supervision to conduct it's own tests of all eggs after local media reported that eggs produced by Chinese company Hanovo Foods were found by Hong Kong authorities to contain melamine.

The Hanovo eggs on the Hong Kong market contained 4.7 ppm (partper million) of melamine, above Hong Kong's legal limit in food which is 2.5 ppm.

According to experts, the widening food scare has exposed the inability of Chinese authorities to keep the food production process clean of melamine.

Melamine is a chemical used to make plastics. It was found in dairy products including baby formula made in China. About 54,000 babies became ill and at least three died as a result of drinking melamine-tainted products in the past two months.

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