BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A Thai dairy company said Thursday it will return 122 tons of milk powder imported from China over contamination fears, as some Asian countries tried to respond carefully to the widening scandal involving a major trading partner.

Thailand's Dutch Mill Group made the announcement even though the country's food inspection authorities said they had not found dangerous amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in any foods tested.

Taiwan and Laos, meanwhile, announced measures to stop the sale of some milk products, after tests in the two countries found melamine in several brands of milk powder originating from China.

Milk containing melamine has been blamed for killing four Chinese babies and sickening more than 54,000 others, sparking global concerns about food products made with Chinese milk or milk powder.

Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has been impounding newly imported milk powder from China at ports around the country, pending laboratory analysis. The agency said it is testing nearly 100 food items.

Earlier this week, the agency found small traces of melamine in milk powder imported from China by Dutch Mill, but the levels were legally acceptable for human consumption, Deputy Secretary-General Manit Arunakoon said.

The agency also cleared samples of Dutch Mill's pasteurized milk and yoghurt products.

But the company said it will return 122 tons of newly imported powdered milk even though none of it had been found dangerous so far.

"We want to return it to make sure our products are safe for our customers," company president Thirayuth Chaisawangwong said. He said test results were expected by week's end "but we don't want to take any risk even if the test is negative."

Dutch Mills already stopped using Chinese powdered milk as raw material for producing pasteurized milk products, he added.

The expanding scandal has prompted countries with trade ties to China to move gingerly.

Thailand's public health minister, Chalerm Yoobamrung, warned Wednesday that officials should be prudent about what they say because they could affect trade with the Asian giant.

"I did not mean that I am afraid of China, but we have to be concerned about our trade ties," Chalerm said later.

Official Thai action so far seems in line with that of other Asian nations engaging in heavy trade with China.

In Taiwan, Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said testing showed small amounts of melamine in milk powder that European food giant Nestle produced in northeastern China.

"Such minor doses of melamine will not affect people's health ... but we will take them off shelves according to our recommended procedures," he said.

Yeh said Taiwan would confer with food safety experts from the United States, Japan, Europe and the World Health Organization to decide whether to permit milk products containing traces of the chemical.

"We need to have a rational discussion on the matter because it also affects other countries," he said.

Taiwanese authorities have launched a sweeping inspection of milk powders and related products, including instant coffee, milk tea and baked goods. More than 160 products containing Chinese milk and vegetable-based proteins have been removed from stores.

The Laos government's Food and Drugs Department found two brands of Chinese-made milk powder sold at a market in Vientiane, the capital, to be contaminated with melamine, the country's KPL state news agency said Thursday.

It said the department, which began inspections earlier this week, seized the contaminated goods. Inspections would be extended nationwide, focusing on northern areas bordering China, KPL said.

China has sought to ease the fears over the widening scandal, saying its latest tests on liquid milk products, including milk and yogurt, from 65 different companies showed no melamine contamination.

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