Melamine detected in 3 more products
Written by Writer on Saturday, October 25th, 2008
Melamine detected in 3 more products
FDA orders snacks to be taken off shelves
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
Melamine has been detected in three more snack products imported from China and Malaysia, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. The snacks _ Hajuku Strawberry Stick, Julie’s peanut butter sandwich and Lotte Koala biscuits _ were tested positive for the industrial chemical, usually used in pesticides and plastic-making, at a level above the safety limit of 2.5 milligrammes per kilogramme.
Laboratory tests showed a level of melamine of 5.07 mg/kg in the strawberry stick and 3.16 mg/kg in the koala biscuit. The level of contamination in the peanut butter sandwich was 2.52 mg/kg.
The Hajuku Strawberry Stick is manufactured by Yantai Arari Confectionery and Food, while the Koala biscuits are produced by Lotte China Food. The Julies brand of products are made in Malaysia by Perfect Food Manufacturing.
Singapore previously reported melamine in 17 biscuit products from Malaysia including Julies peanut butter sandwich.
FDA secretary-general Pipat Yingseree said the agency had already asked importers and retailers to withdraw the products from the shelves. FDA officials would further inspect melamine contamination in products sold at local markets and track down imports of the products.
Meanwhile, the FDA is preparing to tell S&P Syndicate Plc to clarify its recent advertisement that could mislead people to believe its entire range of milk ingredient-based cookies are free of melamine.
The company, a major bakery and restaurant operator, has recently advertised in Matichon daily that ”S&P cookies are safe for consumers” after the FDA had certified its cookies which had been tested for the toxic substance.
The adverts were published after Swiss authorities last week found high concentrations of melamine in S&P cookies from Thailand.
However, random tests by the FDA have found no melamine contamination in the products.
The firm then publicised the FDA’s findings in the newspaper ads.
FDA director for food control Tipawan Parinyasiri said this could mislead readers because the FDA had tested and certified only one lot of cookies.
”We’ll send a letter to the company next week, telling it to make a correction,” she told a public forum on food safety held by the Thai Health Foundation.
FDA expert Darani Mukajornpan said the certificate given to the company only meant a certain lot of cookies was safe, not all of its products. The firm should be blamed for generalising it.
S&P has reported sales of its cookies, made with milk powder imported from Australia, have dropped by about 10 per cent after they were found to contain melamine. In a bid to restore its image, the company plans to spend 5-10 million baht on marketing.
Salee Ongsomwang, manager of the Foundation for Consumers, has urged the government and consumer groups to set up an internet-based food watch to give warnings to consumers against contaminated food.
She said people should have a stronger role in food safety issues instead of state agencies doing the job alone. She expected joint action would help raise food standards in Thailand.
Bangkok Post
Saturday October 25, 2008
