Paediatricians around the country are being surveyed to find out if any New Zealand babies have been affected by melamine poisoning.
The Ministry of Health says it's a precautionary move after four babies died in China and thousands of others have become ill.
It is routine practice for cards to be sent to paediatricians around the country every month for research purposes, but this month it is a new question asking if any babies have had kidney problems.
"We're adding this [because] obviously there's a lot of public concern about the melamine and contamination that occurred in China," says Nigel Dickson from the Otago School of Medicine.
They are not expecting to find any local cases.
"The Food Safety Authority will be very interested if this study showed there was an increase or there is an increase in kidney problems with children particularly," says spokesman Geoff Allen.
The authority is also keen to find out why minute traces of melamine have been found in lactoferrin, an ingredient added to some milk products in New Zealand.
"The lactoferrin process involves quite a lot of filtration and concentration and lots of pipes and things like that and we believe the plastic melamine may have been leaching out of those pipes and into lactoferrin in very small amounts," says Allen.
The scandal has highlighted the issue of where our food comes from, and some producers are disappointed that just this week a select committee said no to compulsory country of origin labelling.
"Certainly anyone exporting food from New Zealand plays the clean and green card.. and would probably like to play that card in the local market," says John Whalley from the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The baby survey will take several weeks and officials will be
watching closely.
