FIRST infant milk powder, then yoghurt bars and now even M&Ms and poultry-flavoured biscuits!

How sure can we be now of what we're shoving into ourselves? I'm talking about the fallout, the panic, the confusion from China's melamine milk scandal.

Nabisco's Chicken In A Biscuit and M&M chocolates are some of the more unlikely products that have been pulled from shelves.

What else to avoid? Madam Siu Kin, 28, who has a 20-month-old son, said: 'So many products are affected? I'm not sure which ones to buy now.'

So far, three food products here have tested positive for melamine contamination. But the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is not taking any chances.

Retailers have been asked to remove 'all imported milk and milk products from China' from their shelves while the AVA tests the products for melamine contamination.

AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong explained: 'Melamine is not allowed to be used in food.

'Under normal circumstances, melamine would not be a hazard associated with milk and not routinely tested in food safety screening unless there is... information on such abuse or reports of investigations into such contamination incidents.'

Until the test results are ready, there is no comprehensive list of products to avoid. Instead, AVA food inspectors doing spot checks on supermarkets here randomly sample up to 40 milk products to see that those from China have been removed.

Provision shop owner Ong Liang Eng, 54, said he removed products based on what has been reported in the news.

He said: 'A customer just told me it's okay to sell some of the products that we've removed. It's so confusing, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry.'

But what if products made in other countries contain milk supplied by China?

Mr Goh said the AVA is in the process of 'gathering information on the country of origin of milk ingredients used in milk and milk products imported from other countries'.

So what is the average person to do while the AVA painstakingly runs traces?

What of the kopi or kopi-C at your favourite kopitiam? Or your frappuccino at your fancy coffee chains? (Note, though, that there have been no reports of adults affected by melamine-contaminated milk - so far).

The point is, without further information, and the onus resting on the consumer to read the fine print to protect himself, what can one really do? Avoid all milk products for now - even those you remotely suspect to contain milk, like biscuits?

The good news is that, unlike babies, milk and milk products make up only a portion of our diet so the toxic levels from ingesting affected products is unlikely to be as concentrated.

The not-so-good news: Those who are lactose-intolerant may well have the last laugh.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Sept 23, 2008.