Eleven types of Chinese-made chocolates laced with the industrial chemical melamine have been recalled in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

So exactly what is melamine and how does it affect our bodies?

Channel 4 Action News medical editor Marilyn Brooks reports melamine is an industrial chemical, primarily used to make plastics and glues.

Mixed with formaldehyde it makes Formica and plates. Toxicology experts at Allegheny General Hospital say that plastic is different from what the Chinese suppliers used in baby milk and Cadbury chocolates. Whether it does harm depends on how much is ingested.

The recent concerns of melamine contamination in products like infant powdered milk, chocolate-filled cookies, Pizza Hut cheese powder and now British Cadbury chocolates made in China has the European Commission considering regular testing of imported products.

"And since there is a special health risk for children, the European Commission is also considering a ban on products originating from China for infants and young children containing any percentage of milk," said Peter Mandelson of the European Trade Commission.

Health officials say there's little risk if melamine is ingested in small amounts. But large amounts can kill. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Chinese suppliers added it to watered-down milk to mask the milk's protein deficiency. Asian children have been drinking that milk for a long time, accumulating large amounts of melamine in their bodies.

Toxicology experts say the body simply can't metabolize so much nitrogen. It crystallizes in the kidneys, forms stones and can lead to kidney failure and death. Melamine-contaminated milk killed four babies and sickened 50,000 children in China alone. Six children in Hong Kong and Macau have developed kidney stones from the contaminated milk.

Cadbury's chocolate is also found in the United States and testing by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority found 180 parts per million of melamine in Cadbury's White Rabbit creamy candies.

Twelve countries have already banned Chinese dairy products and U.S. health official say the safest thing is to avoid any food products made in China.