(ANNECY) - The EU Commission on Monday asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to "urgently assess possible public health risks" of China's tainted milk scandal to consumers.

"There is no question of having milk products from China in the EU because we have banned all imports some years ago," EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said on the margins of a meeting of European farm ministers in Annecy, eastern France.

"But in case they have used some milk for the production of biscuits or other products we have asked EFSA to give us an opinion, whether this... can have any effect on the health of the people," she added.

The findings are expected to be available on Wednesday or Thursday, said EFSA director-general Catherine Geslain-Laneelle

At this stage no one knows if such products containing traces of Chinese milk find their way to Europe, she said, while adding that some might be found for sale in "little Chinese shops".

The Chinese government announced Monday that up to 53,000 children had been hospitalised after drinking milk thought to have been contaminated by the industrial chemical melamine.

Most had "basically recovered" after developing kidney stones, the main symptom of drinking the tainted milk, but 12,892 of them remained in hospital, a Chinese health ministry official said.

Vassiliou called on the Chinese authorities to introduce "more strict controls, not only for exports but also for local consumption. Because we already have children dying".

French agriculture minister Michel Barnier said earlier that Europe must step up checks on food imports in the face of the Chinese and other scares.

Barnier, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, said the Chinese milk scare "supports me in defending a memorandum ... on stepping up safety controls of imports to Europe."

He said that the aim was to "protect consumers, harmonise control methods and rules and also make sure that products entering Europe respect the same norms that we put on our producers."

The European Union imposed an embargo on Chinese dairy products in 2002, concerned at what it saw as insufficient industry controls there.

Despite the ban, the European Commission has asked EU nations to be on the look out for any Chinese milk products entering the bloc, calling on member states to boost border controls.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.