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BFAD stops sale of 2 Chinese milk brands

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/22/2008 4:00 PM

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The Bureau of Food and Drugs on Monday ordered a stop to the distribution and sale of milk products from major Chinese dairy companies Mengniu Dairy Co and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group due to suspected melamine contamination.

BFAD Director Leticia Gutierrez said the bureau is still conducting tests on locally distributed Yili and Mengniu products after melamine-contaminated milk from China left thousands of infants hospitalized.

Melamine is a non-alimentary industrial chemical which causes kidney stones and other renal damage. Symptoms of melamine intake include decreased frequency of urination as well as presence of blood in urine.

Gutierrez said the milk samples will undergo tests to determine if they are positive for melamine contamination. Results of the tests are expected next week, she added.

The Bureau of Customs said the country has imported 2.14 million kilos of milk from China for the first eight months of the year.

The BFAD earlier said it is doing a random testing of "made in China" milk products across the country. Gutierrez said there is no evidence to show that products from Sanlu Group, China's biggest maker of infant milk powder, are being sold in the Philippines.

"For the record, there is no licensed importer allowed to bring Sanlu milk products here. They're not supposed to be in the market," Gutierrez said.

Sanlu said two weeks ago that babies developed kidney stones and other complications after drinking the tainted milk. But the company failed to publicly disclose the problem throughout August when Beijing hosted the Olympic Games, officials said.

Last week, the Chinese government’s quality watchdog released an initial list of milk manufacturing companies suspected of using melamine in their milk products.

The companies are:

1 Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co
2 Shanghai Panda Dairy Co Ltd
3 Synutra International Inc
4 Shanxi Gucheng Dairy Co Ltd
5 Jiangxi Bright & Hero Dairy Co
6 Baoji Huimin Milk Co Ltd
7 Mengniu Dairy
8 Duojiaduo Dairy Industry (Tianjin) Co Ltd
9 Guangdong Yashili Group Co Ltd
10 Hunan Peiyi Dairy Co
11 Heilongjiang Qining Dairy Co
12 Shanxi Yashili Dairy Co Ltd
13 Shenzhen Jinbishi Milk Co Ltd
14 Guangzhou Shien Dairy Co
15 Guangzhou Jinding Dairy Co
16 Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co
17 Ausmeadow Nutriment Co Ltd
18 Qingdao Suncare Nutritional Technology Co Ltd
19 Xi'an Baiyue Dairy Co Ltd
20 Yantai Leilei Dairy Products Co Ltd
21 Shanghai Bao'anli Dairy Co Ltd
22 Fuding Chenguan Dairy Co Ltd

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya warned consumers against buying milk products without labels amid reports that there may be Chinese milk products smuggled into the country that are finding their way into small bakeshops.

Members of the Philippine Supermarket Association have started pulling out Chinese milk products until the BFAD releases the results of its tests.

Corazon Guidote, investor relations officer of the SM Investments Corp., said the mall chain has already pulled out all Yili, Mengniu and Mon Milk products in its supermarkets since last week. She added that customers who already brought the products can have it replaced with a different brand. With Reuters

as of 09/23/2008 10:16 AM