July 16, 2012

Taiwan to remove Dutch milk products from market

Taiwan has imposed an order to take out two milk formula products from local store shelves bought from the Netherlands, which were assumed of being contaminated with salmonella, health officials said Friday (July 13).

Taiwan's Department of Health was alerted to the possible problem by the European Union and notified Taipei's health bureau on Thursday night that two products imported by Taipei-based Youluck International Inc. may have been contaminated, said Taipei health official Shen Mei-chou.

The two products are Youluck Growing-up Goat Milk Formula and Youluck Infant Milk Formula.

Officials sent by city health authorities to check out the situation found that the company has imported 2,521 cartons of Growing-up Goat Milk Formula (one carton has 12 cans) and 881 cartons of Youluck Infant Milk Formula since 2011.

The products have been mostly distributed to pharmacies and baby and infant product outlets, Shen said.

"We have now alerted health authorities to take the products off the shelves of 160 outlets around Taiwan and send them to the company's warehouse in Douliou, Yunlin County," Shen said.

Yunlin County health officials went to the warehouse Friday and sealed more than 18,000 cans of the two kinds of milk formula.

"The health department will check the recall condition day by day," a Yunlin County health official said.