BannedFoods.net » Melamine

China clears Danone, milk products of melamine

admin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:26:33 +0000

China clears Danone, milk products of melamine

By AUDRA ANG – 12 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese quality investigators have found that milk products from a unit of France’s Groupe Danone SA are melamine-free, and also said an unapproved additive used by one of China’s largest dairies is safe but was used illegally.

The separate investigations into the products of Danone’s Dumex Baby Food Co. Ltd. and Mengniu Dairy Group Co. underscore the government’s chronic problems with policing product quality. Melamine-contaminated milk was linked to the deaths of at least six Chinese babies and illnesses of nearly 300,000 others last year.

In a statement released over the weekend, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision said it had tested 932 batches dairy products produced by the Dumex subsidiary since mid-September “and all are melamine-free.”

It also said no melamine, an industrial chemical used in the manufacture of plastics and fertilizer, was found in more than 1,700 batches produced before mid-September, when the dairy scandal broke.

“Our valued consumers can continue to use our product with confidence,” Dumex said in a statement. “Now more than ever, we remain committed to providing products of the highest quality to our loyal consumers.”





Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said a panel of experts had reviewed OMP, a milk protein added by Mengniu to its premium Telunsu line and declared that "consumption ... is not hazardous to health."
However, the ministry said that OMP is not a government-approved additive and Mengniu "promoted its function in an exaggerated manner."
"Law enforcement and inspection departments will further deal with the illegal actions of Mengniu," the ministry said, without giving any details.
It said the company had stopped using OMP and was in the process of getting official approval.
Telephones were not answered at Mengniu's media department on Monday.
Last year's milk scandal, over nitrogen-rich melamine that was added to milk to fool protein tests, was China's worst food contamination crisis. It also exposed loose controls over large companies like Mengniu and Yili Industrial Group Co., whose products were recalled.
Both companies had been exempt from government inspections under waivers given to companies deemed to have proper quality controls, which have since been scrapped.



Death Sentence for melamine food contaminators in China.
admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:11:47 +0000
The Chinese kill their food poisoners. What about the U.S. peanut butter execs who know salmonella was present 12 times.
Accidents happen, but the FDA has determined that the producer of the peanut butter that has sickened more than 500 people, hospitalized 127 and killed eight has a history of knowingly selling food contaminated with salmonella.
The FDA has identified approximately12 instances in the past two years when Peanut Corporation of America, in its own internal testing, identified some type of salmonella in the food and eventually released peanut butter for sale, said Michael Rogers, who heads FDA’s Division of Field Investigations in the Office of Regulatory Affairs.
Several of you have already reminded me that just last week, a Chinese court ordered the death of two men and a life sentence for a dairy executive for their roles in knowingly producing and selling milk poisoned with melamine. The tainted milk has killed at least six children and made almost 300,000 sick. The presence of the melamine, a chemical used in plastics, forced a world-wide recall of dairy and other products.
Fortunately, the numbers of unfortunates sickened in the U.S. was far, far lower, but, according to FDA’s Robert Tauxe, half of those brought down by the bad peanut butter are children.



Nevertheless, I can’t see the government demanding the death penalty for the gang at the Georgia peanut plant, but if they really knew it had salmonella and still sold it, that sounds criminal to me.
Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in Washington, says that if further investigation show the action of the peanut executives violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act ?then that is technically a

violation of the law.
FDA’s regulations have “the force of law,” Sundlof says. “Whether or not there was any criminal activity involved is a different issue. We’re looking.”
Meanwhile, the American Peanut Council tossed its Georgia member to the wolves, saying the trade group was shocked and dismayed at the findings that the company “knowingly released a product with potential salmonella contamination into the food supply.”
“The findings of the FDA report can only be seen as a clear and unconscionable action of one irresponsible manufacturer?,” Patrick Archer, peanut council present, said in a statement.
Death would seem like a good deterrent to putting out dangerous foods! 



How much melamine is safe? World Heath Org says traces seem safe
admin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:24:48 +0000
By FRANK JORDANS 
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that tiny traces of the chemical melamine are not harmful in most foods, but it joined the U.S. and EU in setting a strict limit that regulators should impose before pulling products off the shelf.
Melamine was recently found to have contaminated milk products around the world and has been implicated in the sickening of nearly 300,000 babies in China and killing at least six infants there.
A meeting of food safety experts held by WHO in Ottawa, Canada, decided on Friday that while there is no good reason to have any melamine in food products at all, a maximum of 0.2 milligrams of melamine per kilogram of body weight can be tolerated per day.




Jorgen Schlundt, WHO's director for food safety, said that threshold is lower than the European Union's limitation of 0.5 milligrams. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which originally set its limit at 0.63 milligrams, later reduced its tolerable daily intake to 0.063 milligrams.
WHO's guidance is used by governments to set their minimum food safety standards.
Melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used in the production of plastics, was first discovered to be a major problem when it appeared in Chinese infant formula in September. Since then traces have been found in milk products around the world.
Last month the FDA said tests found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major U.S. manufacturer and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in the formula of a second major maker.




Schlundt stressed that the threshold the WHO has set — which stipulates that a 50 kilogram (110-pound) person could tolerate 10 milligrams of melamine per day — is not a “safe” level for melamine, but merely the amount a human being can consume without higher health risk.
Melamine is used in some food packaging and can rub off into packaged food products. It also is part of a cleaning solution used on some food processing equipment.


EU, China sign safety agreement -more protection for consumers
admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:07:22 +0000
EU, China sign safety agreement
By Zoë Casey
17.11.2008 
Agreement particularly aims to reduce the number of products whose makers are unknown.
China and the EU have agreed to beef up safety measures in response to a wave of large-scale safety scares relating to Chinese products.
The centrepiece of the plan, signed today by Meglena Kuneva, the European commissioner for consumer affairs, and Wei Chuanzhong, a deputy minister responsible for product safety, are measures designed to make it easier to trace dangerous food and consumer products.

Some 50% of all products withdrawn from the EU market for safety reasons are of Chinese origin, and Chinese authorities are unable to trace the manufacturer of just under half of these dangerous goods, the European Commission said.

Those figures indicate that the problems extend beyond the range of Chinese products – toys, pet food and toothpaste – pulled from European shelves in the “summer of recalls” in 2007. However, there is particular concern about toys, as around 85% of toys on the EU market are made in China.


Since 2007, the Chinese authorities have stepped up safety measures, auditing exporters and, as a result, revoking the export licences of 701 companies.
However, Kuneva said “it is clear we must do more”. The signing of the memorandum of understanding today signals that intention “at the highest political level”, she said, stressing that “we are strongly in favour of open and competitive markets, with all the benefits in terms of price and choice they bring for the consumer, but never at the expense of safety”.
Under the agreement, China will be obliged to inform the Commission and the US authorities four times a year of its plans to improve its systems that trace dangerous goods back to the manufacturer.
The Commission and China – together with US authorities – will also meet in 2009 to take stock of the progress made and set new political priorities to improve product safety, Kuneva said. There is no indication that these will become annual meetings.
In another step agreed today, the Commission will allow the Chinese authorities immediate access to information contained in the Commission's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF) database on dangerous Chinese food products found in Europe. The intention is to make it easier for Chinese authorities to trace the source of contaminated products.
Today's agreement has been given added urgency by the scandal of milk tainted with melamine, which officially left nearly 13,000 Chinese infants ill. Unofficial figures suggest the number was substantially higher.
There are no known cases of melamine contamination affecting people in Europe, but traces of the plastic resin have been found in some products, including White Rabbit candy sold in the UK. In Slovakia, three to four times the legal limit of melamine was found in chocolate biscuits and snacks that had yet to be commercialised. In addition, in mid-October the Italian authorities seized one tonne of smuggled Chinese milk powder suspected to have been contaminated.
Overall, figures from the Commission's Rapid Alert System for dangerous consumer products (RAPEX) – a classification that does not include food items – indicate that fewer products withdrawn from the market are now of untraceable origin. In 2006, the figure was 17%; in 2007, it fell to 10%.
Converging safety standards
The day also produced a consensus, though no formal agreement between the Commission, China and the US, that there should be an international “convergence” of safety standards for products such as toys and electrical appliances, a view that chimes with a recent call from the European Parliament for strict international standards on product safety.
Speaking at a safety conference held in Brussels today, Nancy Nord, the chairwoman of the US consumer-product safety commission, said that the need to meet many different standards in international markets posed a significant “challenge” for exporting countries such as China.



Thailand burns melamine-tainted products 8 tons of products
admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:09:13 +0000




















www.chinaview.cn  2008-11-10 15:36:09 
















  BANGKOK, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration burned eight tons of food products tainted with high levels of the toxic chemical melamine on Monday. 
 Deputy Public Health Minister Wicharn Meenchainan witnessed the incineration of tens of thousands of food product items contaminated with higher than acceptable levels of melamine at the Bang Pa-in industrial estate north of Bangkok, according to the Thai news Agency. 
 Some 20,000 boxes of snacks such as cheese crackers and biscuits and more than 13,000 cans of unsweetened condensed milk containing high levels of melamine were destroyed, 
 Wicharn said that the burning of the melamine-tainted products was to ensure Thailand’s consumers that food products in the market are melamine free.
 











Editor:                   Deng Shasha



Melamine in White Rabbit Candy
admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:43:10 +0000
Singapore finds melamine in White Rabbit candies; Chinese dairy products now banned across Asia and Africa
Melamine found in white rabbit candies


Looks like our earlier warning to not eat or drink anything with dairy content for the time being bears repeating. Singapore has now found traces of melamine in White Rabbit candies, wildly popular throughout Asia. The Straits Times reports:
    Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said samples of White Rabbit-brand Creamy Candy imported from China were contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.



t>

    Authorities on Friday suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products after finding melamine in samples of a Yili-brand yogurt bar and Dutch Lady-brand strawberry milk manufactured in China. The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.
    'Retailers and importers have been instructed to recall these products and withhold them from sale,' the AVA said in a statement.
    'Consumers who have bought the affected products are advised not to consume them.' 
This would be the second time in the short history of this blog that the quality of White Rabbit candies has been called into question. In July 2007, we reported that traces of the cancer-causing agent formaldehyde were found in the candies which are produced in Shanghai by the Guan Sheng Yuan Group.
Meanwhile, the melamine scandal continues to widen around the region:
    * Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety has found traces of melamine in Nestle Dairy Farm Pure Milk. And in the first reported case outside of the mainland, a three-and-a-half-year-old Hong Kong toddler has been diagnosed with kidney stones after being fed with Yili milk daily for the past 15 months.

    * Public health officials in Taiwan have announced their findings of melamine-tainted instant coffee, milk tea and chicken-and-corn soup. The import of all such products into Taiwan has been banned with immediate effect, including instant coffee made by the popular Taiwan brand Mr Brown in China.

    * In Japan, Marudai Food Co. issued a voluntary recall of five China-made products, saying they may contain the toxin melamine

    * China ally Myanmar has announced it would "seize and destroy imported Chinese baby formula to safeguard against poisoning by the toxic chemical melamine".

    * Brunei has ordered a blanket ban on all China-made milk products and dairy items.

    * Malaysia has imposed a "level six import ban" on all Chinese dairy products.

    * Bangladesh has also started on a crackdown and ban on three brands of Chinese-made milk powder.

    * In Africa, Tanzania and Gabon were the first to impose bans on Chinese dairy products and Burundi has just joined them in the ban.
By Kenneth Tan in News



Chocolate Pirate Gold Coins found with melamine (sold in some Costco’s)
admin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:10:19 +0000
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



Chickens killed due to melamine scare and concerns
admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:03:48 +0000
China melamine scandal causes slaughter of thousands of chickens

Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:45pm IST
By Ian Ransom
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese farmers, hurt by a spreading melamine scandal, slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens, state media said on Friday, as authorities in Shanghai began checks on feed producers for local fisheries.
Shanghai’s Livestock Office would check more than 100 feed producers in the city, and promised tests for the city’s seafood products if any feed were found to contain melamine, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said on Friday.
Melamine is a compound used in making plastic chairs and other things, but is often added to food to cheat nutrition tests.
At least four children died and tens of thousands were made ill from drinking milk formula adulterated with melamine this year.
The melamine scandal has since spread to other dairy products, sweets and chocolate, prompting recalls of Chinese-made food around the world.
A rash of cases involving melamine-tainted eggs exported to Hong Kong and South Korea, and sold in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, have aroused fears of how prevalent the compound is in Chinese animal feed.







Melamine was banned in feed last year in the wake of a pet food scandal that was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States last year, but has since been found in chicken feed used by major egg producers in northern China.

Public fears about food safety have seen egg prices plummet in local markets, and wholesalers refuse stock not carrying melamine inspection certificates.
Plunging demand in Beijing had prompted dozens of farmers in Baoding to slaughter tens of thousands of chickens in recent days, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Amid the growing scandals, China's health ministry has urged officials to quickly fix the country's problem-ridden food safety system.
DISJOINTED
The World Health Organisation's food safety chief, Jorgen Schlundt, last week called China's food-safety system "disjointed" and said poor communications between ministries and agencies may have prolonged the outbreak of melamine poisoning.
"Coordinate and cooperate to investigate and punish major incidents," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Chen Zhu as saying.
Some 2,390 children remain in hospital after suffering kidney stones and other complications from drinking melamine-tainted milk formula, the ministry reported on Wednesday.
At the peak in late September, up to 22,000 infants were in hospital on any one day after being found sick from melamine. ,
The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said the scare had exposed long-standing failings in food-safety regulation.
"The right to safe food and appropriate nutrition is every citizen's right, but one after another food-safety incident is challenging this right," it said in a commentary.
"For this reason, food safety has become a national topic."
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley)



Body Paint added to list with Teas and Cakes. Australian Melamine Recall List
admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:28:28 +0000
Body Paint Joins Tea, Cake on Australian Melamine Recall List

Sexy body paint set banned , found to contain melamine

By Robert Fenner
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set, described by its maker as the sensual way to indulge a sweet tooth, joined Orion cakes and Kirin tea on the list of products recalled in Australia because of contamination with the chemical melamine.
“Consumers who may have bought this product are advised not to consume this body paint, which should be disposed of safely,” Australia’s food safety regulator said in a statement.
Milk tainted with melamine, which is used to make plastics and tan leather, has been blamed for the deaths of four babies in China and the sickening of 53,000. China’s Sanlu Group Co. and 21 companies were found to sell contaminated dairy goods, leading to recalls or restrictions on products made with Chinese milk in more than two dozen countries from Japan to France.
The Australian importer of Boxer Lovers voluntarily recalled the chocolate-flavored body paint, the seventh product withdrawn from the market, following advice from Canadian and U.K. authorities, Food Standards Australia said.






Other products recalled by Australian importers include White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Kirin Milk Tea, Orion Tiramisu Italian cake, Dali Yuan brand first milk and Lotte Koala biscuits.
Cadbury Plc, the world's largest confectioner, recalled its Eclairs product last month and remains the only manufacturer to withdraw products in Australia because of melamine.

What exactly is melamine?
Melamine is an organic compound that is often combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a synthetic polymer which is fire resistant and heat tolerant. Melamine resin is a very versatile material with a highly stable structure. Uses for melamine include whiteboards, floor tiles, kitchenware, fire retardant fabrics, and commercial filters.







Melamine found in body paints. Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set
admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:48:23 +0000
Add body paint to the list!
A chocolate-flavoured body sex paint has been recalled from Australian shelves as authorities continue to crack down on melamine imports from China.
The paint, Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set,

Melamine found in body paint set


today joined the banned list alongside six other products including  Lotte Koala Biscuits, Cadbury Eclairs, Kirin Milk Tea, Orion Tiramisu Italian Cake, Dali Yuan brand First Milk and White Rabbit Creamy Candy.
Melamine, a nitrogen-rich chemical used in the plastics industry, was discovered to be dangerously used by Chinese food manufacturers to give livestock feed and baby milk formulas the appearance of higher protein content.
Products contaminated with melamine, which is normally used in plastic products, have killed at least four children and made about 53,000 ill in mainland China.






The body paint's importer has voluntarily withdrawn the product.
Today's recall follows advice from Canadian and UK authorities whose test results show low levels of melamine in the sex paint product.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said those who had consumed the body paint product were not likely to be affected unless large quantities were consumed.
"Our advice is that consumers shouldn't consume it and if they have, it they should dispose of it safely,'' Ms Buchtmann said.
"It is a very low risk, you'd have to consume a high quantity over a long period of time to become ill.''
Ms Buchtmann said both FSANZ and international authorities' test results had established there was no evidence of melamine contamination of fruit and vegetables grown in China and imported to Australia as previous reports had suggested.