Unilever yesterday became the third multinational food group in less than a week to issue a product recall linked to the Chinese melamine scandal, highlighting weaknesses in global food safety practices.

Unilever said it would stop using Chinese milk powder for some products after it found melamine, an industrial chemical that has made thousands of Chinese children sick, in batches of Lipton-branded tea powders exported to Hong Kong. It recalled four batches of milk powder.