TORONTO - A blood thinner that has been linked to 19 deaths in the United States is now being recalled in Canada after a contaminant was found in products made by a specific manufacturer, Health Canada said Friday.

The department released a statement announcing that B. Braun Medical Inc., a multinational manufacturer of health care products, is recalling its heparin products sold in Canada.

Health Canada said the products contained the contaminant oversulphated condroitin sulphate, but said there have been no reports of adverse effects from the products.

Condroitin sulphate is a natural compound that occurs widely and is used as a dietary supplement, but the specific effects of the oversulphated variety are not known, as the chemical has not been widely studied.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified oversulphated condroitin sulphate as the contaminant in batches of heparin linked to 19 deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions.

The heparin in question was distributed by U.S.-based Baxter International and was manufactured in China, the world's leading provider of the blood-thinner. There have been similar recalls of Chinese-sourced heparin in Germany and Japan.

Baxter was forced to pull nearly all its U.S.-sold heparin injections from the market after the spate of adverse reactions.

The company is also at the centre of a lawsuit launched by actor Dennis Quaid and his wife after their newborn twins were given 1,000 times the recommended dose of heparin. The couple is accusing the company of negligence for packaging different doses of the medication in similar-looking vials.

The FDA's findings prompted Health Canada to order all heparin suppliers to test their products using the same methodology that uncovered the problems south of the border.

The B. Braun recall is the first of its kind in Canada and the only product to come under scrutiny so far.

In Friday's statement, Health Canada said only one allergic reaction associated with heparin has been reported between Jan. 1, 2007 and Mar. 6, 2008.

Baxter products are not distributed in Canada.

Heparin, which is derived from pig intestines, is commonly used after surgery or during dialysis to prevent clotting.