At least nine countries have banned Chinese dairy imports in response to a widening tainted-milk scandal that has claimed the lives of four Chinese babies.

Several more countries have increased their testing of Chinese food imports amid fears that compromised ingredients may have contaminated other products.

The scare has been most acutely felt in Asia, where worried parents Sept. 23 rushed their children to hospitals for health checks after China said that formula laced with a toxic chemical had sickened 54,000 infants.

A major Japanese food maker, Marudai Food Co., pulled its cream buns, meat buns and creamed corn crepes from supermarkets.