Melamine Banned Food List
2 Lotte
products have melamine–BFAD
By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily
Inquirer
MANILA,
Philippines—Two more products of the popular biscuit brand
Lotte were found to contain the industrial chemical melamine,
the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) announced
Wednesday.
Lotte B+W
Koala Biscuit and Lotte Chocolate Snack Koala Biscuit have
tested positive for melamine and were automatically banned from
the market.
Last week,
the BFAD found Lotte Strawberry Snack Koala Biscuit to be
tainted with melamine. Lotte is a South Korean company with
headquarters in Japan.
BFAD
Director Leticia Gutierrez said the three contaminated Lotte
products were made in China.
The food
safety agency has been testing China-made dairy products after
at least four children have died and some 54,000 others fell
ill from drinking melamine-tainted formula milk. Melamine is
normally used to make plastics.
In one of
China’s worst product recall scandals, countries from Asia
to Europe have decided to
suspend imports of Chinese milk products or to withdraw them
from the market.
Three
other China-made milk products were earlier found to contain
high levels of melamine and were banned from the market: Jolly
Cow Slender High Calcium Low Fat Milk (1 liter), Greenfood Yili
Fresh Milk and Mengniu Drink.
22
products cleared
The BFAD
Wednesday declared 22 more dairy products free of melamine,
bringing the total to 166.
They are
Angels First Love Barquillos Fresh Milk Wafer Sticks, Barbecue
Candy (MM), Darrys Milk Choco Candy, Golden Fuji Crisp Tomato
Flavor Cracker, Golden Fuji Vegetable Flavor Cracker, Houshuang
Winter Mint Candy (MM).
KZ Gundam
Long Candy, Lipton Milk Tea (Original Flavor)—product of
Indonesia, Lipton Milk Tea (Vanilla Flavor)—product of
Indonesia, Nice Choice Pineapple Cake, OO Chocolate Bean Candy,
Sandwich Biscuits (green wrapper, in Chinese characters),
Sandwich Biscuits (purple wrapper, in Chinese characters),
Sandwich Biscuits (yellow wrapper, in Chinese
characters).
Sour
Lollipop 2 in 1 (strawberry, orange, pineapple), Sweet Dart 8.8
Butter Bali Candy, The New Zoland Company Omilk Bonbon Yogurt
Milk Soft Drops (grape flavor), W.L. Sweet Dart Pines Milk
Candy.
W.L. Sweet
Dart Royal Orange Candy, W.L. Yaahoo Cheese Biscuit, Zhongshan
Meihua Galletas de Chocola Te Butter with Filling Cake and
Zhongshan Meihua Good Taste Sweet-Smelling, and Crisp Biscuits
(Nutrition Health Foods).
Tea made
in Indonesia
Gutierrez said her bureau included
the two Indonesia-made tea products in its tests because
samples had been submitted to the agency.
The BFAD
has also cleared 18 canned meat products, including two locally
manufactured products, of melamine
contamination.
Gutierrez
said the agency would likely finish testing the last batch of
milk and milk-related products within the
week.
Afterward,
she said the agency would validate the findings made by the
privately owned Qualibet Testing Center.
Qualibet
has said its independent tests found melamine in a luncheon
meat product and in a corned beef product.
It has
also claimed that its tests showed that two milk candies, a
chocolate brand, a milk powder for pregnant women and a
repackaged coffee creamer used in restaurants were
contaminated.
“We’re
concentrating on milk and milk-related products. We want to
deal with the matter (of Qualibet’s findings) separately,”
Gutierrez said Wednesday.
Imported
ham
With the
approaching Christmas season, the Bureau of Customs Wednesday
said it would be scrutinizing imported ham and other meat
products.
Ferdinand
Tuason, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service
chief, told reporters that his office had decided to examine
all products in refrigerated containers.
After
coming under fire for the entry of melamine-tainted milk,
chocolates and other products, the customs bureau has
intensified its monitoring of other imported items such as
canned goods, Christmas lights and toys suspected to contain
chemicals hazardous to health. With reports from Jerome Aning and Agence
France-Presse
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