September 24, 2008

   

 

Hong Kong authorities detected melamine in a sample of Nestle's milk Sunday ( Sep 21), the same day the top global food giant assured consumers its products in China are safe.

 

The milk, meant for catering purposes, was manufactured in Nestle's plant in Qingdao. Melamine, the chemical used in contaminated milk powder, was responsible for having sickened more than 60,000 babies in China.

 

In a press release, Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety said it detected a level of 1.4 ppm in a one-litre pack of Nestle Dairy Farm Pure Milk ( for catering use). 

 

The swiss-based group is the world's largest food company.

 

"Based on the low level detected, normal consumption will not pose major health effects. However, it is not advisable for small children to consume the milk product," a CFS spokesman said.

 

According to the standards of US Food and Drug Administration, the safety reference value (i.e. tolerable daily intake - TDI) for melamine is 0.63mg per kg of body weight per day.

 

Based on the level detected in Nestle's sample, the spokesman said it would take a 1-year-old child weighing 7.5kg to drink around three packs of the product a day to have exposure reaching the TDI. He also added that the Nestle milk sample is usually for catering use.

 

No Nestle baby milk powder has been detected with melamine both within and outside China. 

 

The centre has tested hundreds of dairy products since last week and has detected cakes, candies, yoghurt and ice cream tainted by melamine. All of them had ingredients sourced from CHina. 

 

Earlier media reports had claimed that Neslac Gold 1+ might be affected, said Nestle, but it pointed out that the Hong Kong government's food safety department had declared that the product was safe.

 

The Macau government said a 16-month-old child who was fed Nestle Chinese-made milk powder has been diagnosed with a kidney stone. The government said in a statement late Tuesday the child was fed Nestle milk powder made in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province.

 

The product was tested by the Hong Kong Standards and Testing Centre Ltd during September 18 to 20, as well as the Food Industry Research and Development in Taiwan on September 16, said the group.

 

"Neither test detected melamine in the product," said the Swiss group, which added that it regularly carried out more than 70 different tests on infant formula and other milk products.

 

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Agency for Food and Drug Control has distributed a list of 28 products that may contain tainted Chinese milk and should be pulled from supermarket shelves,

 

On the Indonesian list are Nestle liquid milk, Dove chocolates and other milk, yoghurt and ice cream varieties sold under the brand names Jinwel, Yili, White Rabbit and Dutch lady.