The T&T Supermarket chain has pulled Mengniu and Yili brand yogurt drinks from all its locations as a precaution.The T&T Supermarket chain has pulled Mengniu and Yili brand yogurt drinks from all its locations as a precaution. (CBC)

A major Chinese supermarket chain has pulled two yogurt drink brands from all its locations across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario after tainted baby milk formula sickened more than 6,000 babies in China.

T&T Supermarket, based in Vancouver, made the decision to pull the Mengniu and Yili brands Thursday as a precaution and to ease concerns raised by customers, company spokeswoman Sandra Creighton said.

"We do not carry the same products that are reported to be contaminated in China. However, we always think customers come first. They have concern about the same brand names so we pull off the products," she told CBC News.

"We return [these products] to the suppliers."

Four babies died and at least 6,200 others have fallen ill after being fed formula contaminated with melamine, a chemical that makes the product appear to have higher protein levels than they actually do.

Food importer Wilson Zhang says he has sent samples of two brands of yogurt drinks for a lab test.Food importer Wilson Zhang says he has sent samples of two brands of yogurt drinks for a lab test. (CBC)

Xinhua, China's official news agency, said the chemical has been found in the urine and kidney stones of the sick babies, and close to 160 babies have suffered acute kidney failure. Milk powder from Sanlu Group Co. has been linked to all of the known illnesses, it said.

No illnesses have been reported in Canada.

There's concern that the contaminated milk powder may have made its way to yogurt drinks also made in China. Health officials in Hong Kong have recalled a variety of milk, ice cream and yogurt products from a Chinese dairy linked to the deaths.

T&T has eight locations in B.C., and eight others in Alberta and Ontario.

Wilson Zhang, a food importer in Richmond, B.C., said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency seized samples of the two yogurt drinks from him for testing.

Zhang himself has also sent samples to a laboratory for testing and results will come back next week.

"I worry about myself, my company and my customer's health," he said.