Melamine may be in cocoa products, Topaz Brand Wafer Rolls (May be in Big Lots)
Filed under: BPA,Bishenol A, Banned Foods, China Product Safety, Dangerous Foods, Food Dyes, Melamine, Red Dye 1, U.S.A and Melamine Scare, What it is?, holiday food safety
Recalls: cocoa products, Topaz brand Wafer Rolls
The following recalls have been announced:
_Dorsey Marketing Inc. is recalling G&J Gourmet Market cocoa products because they might contain melamine, a chemical used in plastics and not approved to be directly added to food in the U.S. No illnesses have been reported, according to the company, based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. The recalled products include G&J Hot Cocoa Stuffer, item 120144; G&J His and Hers Hot Cocoa Set, item 120129; G&J Cocoa item, item 120126, sold in French Vanilla Cocoa and Double Chocolate Cocoa flavors. The recalled products were imported into the United States by the company. They were distributed nationwide to Big Lots during the weeks of Sept. 22 and Sept. 29 this year and to Shopko during the week of Oct. 6. For more information, consumers can e-mail the company: recall(at)dmi-global.com.
_National Brands Inc. is recalling all its 4.76-ounce and 12.3-ounce cans of Topaz brand Wafer Rolls because the products might be contaminated with melamine. No illnesses have been reported, according to the Spring Valley, N.Y., company. The recalled products were sold in four flavors and they were distributed nationwide through retail stores. For more information, consumers can call 866-238-5201.
17 Harmful additives banned
Filed under: Banned Foods, Is it Safe?, Melamine, Red Dye 1, china
Chinese health ministry bans 17 harmful substances in food
BEIJING – China has published a list of 17 acids, chemicals and other substances that have been banned as food additives, amid a four-month safety campaign following a scandal over tainted milk.
A Chinese customer browses through various instant noodles at a supermarket in Zhengzhou, Dec. 16. China has banned 17 substances as food additives as part of a four-month safety campaign launched following a scandal over tainted milk. – AFP
Illegal items posted on the Chinese health ministry’s list include boric acid, a chemical used as an insecticide or flame retardant that is known to be added to noodles or the skin of dumplings to increase their elasticity.
Formaldehyde, applied to dried seafood to improve its appearance, but also commonly used as a disinfectant, was another dangerous substance on the banned list, published on the ministry’s Web site late on Monday.
Some of the substances, such as the carcinogenic dye Sudan Red 1, had already been banned by the government, but this was the first official compilation of illegal food additives in China.
In a related story, Chinese police are investigating 27 cases of melamine-laced animal feed, state media said Monday, three months after the industrial chemical was detected in milk, triggering a worldwide food scandal.
The Ministry of Agriculture examined 22,700 batches of feed throughout the country, and found 545, or 2.4%, were found to contain excessive melamine, the official China Daily reported.
Twenty-seven cases had been transferred to police for further investigation, the report said, citing Wang Xiaohong, a top official at the ministry’s National Feed Office.
The government said this month at least six children may have died in China after drinking milk laced with melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastic, and a further 294,000 suffered kidney-related problems.
The scandal, which came to light in September, caused international concern and led to recalls and bans of Chinese-made dairy products around the world.
The melamine was mixed into watered-down milk so dairy products would have the appearance of higher protein content.
The scandal widened when eggs sent from the mainland to Hong Kong were also discovered to contain melamine in October, with the chemical similarly added to chicken feed to give it the appearance of more protein.
China is the largest feed and feed additive exporter after the US, with output estimated to be 131 million tonnes this year, according to the China Daily.
This prompted authorities to launch a four-month food safety drive at the beginning of December to try to restore confidence in the “Made-in-China” brand.
The government said when it announced the campaign that it would start out softly, with companies urged to correct their own shortcomings. But officials would soon begin raiding food producers deemed high-risk and carry out random checks, it warned.
Banned food additives
The list of banned food additives on Monday also included sodium thiocyanate, used in the manufacture of textiles, and added to milk and dairy products to keep them fresh.
Anthony Hazzard, a regional adviser for food safety in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Western Pacific office, said the list could prove useful in reducing the illegal use of such chemicals, by raising awareness.
But he told AFP it was more efficient to have a list of additives that could be used in food rather than an unending list of ones that could not.
As part of the crackdown, the health ministry also published on Monday the names of additives that could easily be abused when added to food products.
It mentioned leavening agents as one such substance, used to make cakes and dough sticks, which could leave excessive aluminium residues if added in excessive quantities.
But the ministry warned the lists were not exhaustive.
"These lists... cannot cover all problems linked to illegally adding substances in food and abusing additives in the industry," it said in its online statement. - AFP
Chocolate Pirate Gold Coins found with melamine (sold in some Costco’s)
Sherwood Gold Coins found with melamine
Consumer Advisory
Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins may be Contaminated with Melamine
Melamine – Certain products from China – 2008
Main Page | Report on Testing Results
OTTAWA, October 8, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume, distribute, or sell the Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins described below. This product is being recalled due to positive test results for melamine conducted by the CFIA.
The affected product, Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins, is sold in 840g containers containing 240 pieces per container bearing UPC 0 36077 11240 7 and lot code 1928S1.
This product is sold nationally through Costco stores and may also have been sold in bulk packages or as individual pieces at various dollar and bulk stores across Canada.
If the original product identity and UPC code is not evident, consumers are advised to check with their retailer to determine if they have the affected product.
Retailers and distributors are advised to stop distributing Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins and to initiate a voluntary recall of this product. The CFIA will be working with the importers to remove the affected product from the marketplace.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
Although the health risk associated with these products is considered to be low, the advisory is being issued as a result of the Government of Canada’s ongoing investigation into milk and milk-derived products sourced in/from China that may have been distributed in Canada.
The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
Melamine is a chemical compound used in a number of commercial and industrial applications. Canada does not allow its use as a food ingredient.
For more information consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.
Banned Foods.net Stay Informed
Melamine and banned Sudan Red 1 dye found in eggs in China.
HONG KONG — The discovery of excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs has prompted the Hong Kong authorities to expand health tests to include meat products imported from China, a senior official said Sunday.
The move follows the announcement late Saturday that Hong Kong testers had found 4.7 parts per million of melamine in imported eggs produced by a division of China’s Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group. The legal limit for melamine in foodstuffs in Hong Kong is 2.5 ppm.
Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs. “The preliminary opinion experts have given us is that there is a problem with the [chicken] feed,” Mr. Chow told reporters Saturday. The egg results have prompted officials to expand food testing to meat imports from China, Mr. Chow told reporters Sunday.Calls to Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group, based in the northeastern port city Dalian, went unanswered Sunday.
In an earlier egg-related food safety scare in Hong Kong and China the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, was used to color egg yolks.
China is caught in a food safety scandal over dairy products tainted with melamine. More than 3,600 children remain sick in China from contaminated milk, with three in serious condition, the Ministry of Health said last week. The deaths of four infants have been blamed on dairy products contaminated with melamine.
Authorities say middlemen apparently added melamine to milk they collected from farmers to sell to large dairy companies. The suppliers are accused of watering down the milk and then adding the nitrogen-rich chemical to make the milk seem higher in protein when tested.
Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
The Hong Kong government also said it found excessive amounts of melamine in Blueberry Cream Sandwich crackers made by Philippine company Croley Foods MFG. Corp.
Copyright © 2008 Associated Press
Sudan 1 Red Dye Banned
Sudan 1 is a red dye used for coloring solvents, oils and waxes. It has long been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is therefore not permitted in food. Back in May 2003, after the French authorities found products containing Sudan red 1 in imports of hot chilli products, the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food.
What kind of foods have Sudan 1 Red Dye? This is a double whammy since it involves melamine and red dye 1.
Sudan Red 1 and Food
Sudan Red 1 is an industrial red dye that is used for colouring solvents, oils, waxes, petrol and shoe and floor polishes. It has been banned as a food colourant throughout the EU since 2003, due to its carcinogenic properties. However despite this, it has been used by some companies to manufacture chilli powder.
In the case of the affected products in Ireland - they had originated from a British company, Premier Foods (UK), which had used chilli powder contaminated with the dye in the manufacture of Worcester sauce. That chilli powder meanwhile had been imported from India. Because Premier Foods (UK) supplies to various branded products and manufacturers of other products, such as ready meals and soups, the dye eventually made its way into a number of products from well-known brands here, including Pot Noodle, Tesco, Bird’s Eye, Marks and Spencer and Iceland.
In January 2004, the FSAI issued an alert about a variety of spice products produced by a UK company, TRS Wholesale Company Ltd. The products were found to contain Sudan Red 1. In July, a similar alert was issued about a chilli product, which had been distributed by another company, Petty Wood and Company Ltd. Wholesale Company UK. In August, a second alert was issued about this particular product after the FSAI learned that more batches had been affected than had originally been thought.
The FSAI mainly issues two types of alert, category 1 and category 2. Category 2 is 'for information'. It does not detail or indeed require any action to be taken. Category 1 however means that action is required, because there has been an identified risk to consumers. In all of the cases of Sudan Red 1 mentioned, the alerts were category 1.
However the FSAI emphasises that while it is totally unacceptable for this dye to be used in foods, the risk is small.
"While the colourant has been found to have carcinogenic properties, it would have to be consumed over a long period of time in order to pose a significant health risk", said Dr John O'Brien, chief executive of the FSAI.
In fact even if you have eaten an affected product, the authority insists that there is 'no risk of immediate illness'. "If you have eaten these products, the risk is likely to be very small and not eating them any more is a sensible thing to do."
There are stringent regulations in place in relation to foods that pose a health risk. European legislation places a legal obligation on food businesses to not only have recall and traceability systems in place, but to provide information to consumers on recalls and to recall products from them when there are identified health risks.
But what about Sudan Red 1 specifically? According to the FSAI, all dried and crushed or ground chilli coming into any EU member state must be accompanied by a certificate, which shows that the food has been tested and found to be free of Sudan Red 1. Any consignment that does not have such a certificate is detained for sampling and analysis. Random sampling is also undertaken at ports and by local authorities.
Any consignment that is found to contain Sudan Red 1 has to be destroyed.
However despite these stringent rules, the colourant still made its way into the Irish food chain and unfortunately nobody can guarantee that this won’t happen again. However the FSAI insists that this particular recall was a 'rare situation' and was dealt with 'as fast as possible'.
Sudan 1 Red Dye Banned in Foods in 2005, China Eggs found with dye
Sudan 1 is a red dye used for coloring solvents, oils and waxes. It has long been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is therefore not permitted in food. Back in May 2003, after the French authorities found products containing Sudan red 1 in imports of hot chilli products, the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food.
What kind of foods have Sudan 1 Red Dye? This is a double whammy since it involves melamine and red
HONG KONG -- The discovery of excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs has prompted the Hong Kong authorities to expand health tests to include meat products imported from China, a senior official said Sunday.
The move follows the announcement late Saturday that Hong Kong testers had found 4.7 parts per million of melamine in imported eggs produced by a division of China's Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group. The legal limit for melamine in foodstuffs in Hong Kong is 2.5 ppm.
Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs. "The preliminary opinion experts have given us is that there is a problem with the [chicken] feed," Mr. Chow told reporters Saturday. The egg results have prompted officials to expand food testing to meat imports from China, Mr. Chow told reporters Sunday.Calls to Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group, based in the northeastern port city Dalian, went unanswered Sunday.
In an earlier egg-related food safety scare in Hong Kong and China the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, was used to color egg yolks.
China is caught in a food safety scandal over dairy products tainted with melamine. More than 3,600 children remain sick in China from contaminated milk, with three in serious condition, the Ministry of Health said last week. The deaths of four infants have been blamed on dairy products contaminated with melamine.
Authorities say middlemen apparently added melamine to milk they collected from farmers to sell to large dairy companies. The suppliers are accused of watering down the milk and then adding the nitrogen-rich chemical to make the milk seem higher in protein when tested.
Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
The Hong Kong government also said it found excessive amounts of melamine in Blueberry Cream Sandwich crackers made by Philippine company Croley Foods MFG. Corp.
Copyright © 2008 Associated Press
Translator
