A suspicious powder at a post office in Parker, Colo., turned out to be pudding mix.

Just yesterday, the city heard of about a half dozen cases of suspicious powder or envelopes that it is investigating, the mayor said.

In the last 10 days, three businesses in Pakistan - a bank, a computer company and a newspaper - have received letters with suspicious powder inside.

And yet using it for the Cardiff exhibition presented a very material problem - how to transport a potentially suspicious powder across international borders.

The Canadian police have responded to numerous reports of suspicious white powder, but, so far, none of the substances have tested positive for anthrax.

Testing a suspicious powder for anthrax spores can be quick and inexpensive or slow and costly, experts said yesterday.

In one instance, suspicious white powder was received by the show.

First, local police and fire departments investigate reports about suspicious white powders.

Incident: Package containing suspicious white powder discovered at laundromat.

Since the anthrax scares began earlier this month, panicked reports of suspicious white powders have diverted or delayed more than a dozen flights.