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Saturday, September 20, 2008
Public warned v. buying repacked milk
MANILA -- Health Secretary Francisco Duque urged the public Friday not to buy repacked or unbranded milk products.
"Do not be swayed by low prices. Have second thoughts if the price is too low compared to current market prices," he said.
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Duque's advice came after the Sanlu tainted milk scandal in China wherein thousands of babies were found positive of kidney stones allegedly caused by one of the baby formula's active components.
He added that the public should not worry about the presence of Sanlu in the country as post marketing surveillance and the statement of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) said there is no such brand in the market.
But even with the absence of Sanlu milk in the country, BFAD inspectors were ordered to collect samples from different milk distribution outlets for testing. The samples will be tested for any presence of melamine, a toxic chemical which experts said increases the protein level in the baby formula and since it is insoluble protein, it causes precipitates in the kidney.
Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said importation of milk products is regulated.
"Importers need to register with the BFAD prior to importation and secure clearance from the agency before it is released," he said. "Without clearance, the shipment will not be released because the bureau implements not only its own laws but also the laws of other agencies of government."
In Beijing, government tests found the industrial chemical melamine in liquid milk produced by three of the country's leading dairy companies.
The crisis roiling China's dairy industry also took on more international tones, with a recall in Hong Kong and as regulators from the European Union and the United States were in town Friday to discuss joint efforts to improve China's product safety record.
The scandal was thought to have been initially confined to tainted milk powder, blamed for four infant deaths and illnesses in 6,200 others.
But about 10 percent of liquid milk samples taken from Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co. -- China's two largest dairy producers -- contained melamine, according to a report by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine posted on the agency's Web site. Milk from Shanghai-based Bright Dairy also showed contamination.
"AQSIQ will strictly find out the reason for adding the melamine and severely punish those who are responsible," the notice said. It said all the batches that tested positive were being recalled.
Reactions were immediate with major Hong Kong grocery chains PARKnSHOP and Wellcome pulling all liquid milk by Mengniu from shelves. A day earlier, Hong Kong recalled milk, yogurt, ice cream and other products made by Yili Industrial Group Co.
Starbucks Corp. said its 300 cafes in mainland China had pulled milk supplied by Mengniu. Starbucks said no employees or customers had fallen ill from the milk.
Earlier this week, Mengniu's chief executive officer Niu Gensheng vowed to create a clean dairy product market, saying: "if this thing cannot be properly dealt with, I'll resign," according to the financial magazine Caijing.
The scandal began with complaints over milk powder by the Sanlu Group Co., one of China's best-known and most respected brands, but it quickly became a much larger issue as government tests found that one-fifth of the companies producing baby milk powder had melamine in their products.
Though most of the dairy products involved are only sold domestically, two of the companies exported their products to five countries in Asia and Africa.
Thousands of worried parents have filled hospitals, many hovering over sons and daughters hooked to IV drips after drinking milk powder tainted with melamine, a toxic industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Some 1,300 babies, mostly newborns, remain hospitalized, with 158 suffering from acute kidney failure.
Questions continued to swirl about the handling of the scandal by milk producer Sanlu and government officials.
The company reportedly received complaints about its formula as early as March and tests revealed the contamination by early August, just before the Olympics. Sanlu went public with a recall on Sept. 11 after its New Zealand stakeholder told the New Zealand government, which then informed the Chinese government.
Melamine has no nutritional value but is high in nitrogen, making products with it appear to have a higher protein content. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added the toxic chemical to watered-down milk.
Police in northern China's Hebei province, where Sanlu is based, arrested 12 more people Thursday, bringing the total to 18. Police said six suspects allegedly sold melamine, while the others were accused of adding the chemical to milk. (FP/AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (September 20, 2008 issue)
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