The Bureau of Food and Drugs on Friday released a partial list of milk and other milk products undergoing testing for possible melamine contamination.
In an interview on radio dzMM, BFAD chief Leticia Barbara Gutierrez urged the public not to purchase the following products until the bureau finishes its tests.
"We are going to test if these are positive for [melamine]. Some of these used milk sourced from China. These are the samples that we have collected but there's always the possibility that these could be negative," Gutierrez told radio dzMM.
"This is the advice of the [Department of Health]. Wag na muna silang bilhin," she added.
She said the ban will remain in effect until BFAD releases results of the tests in October.
Below is the partial list:
Gutierrez earlier advised the public to avoid all milk products with the "made in China" or PROC, initials for People's Republic of China, marks.
She added that Filipino consumers should also avoid infant formula and other milk products that have Chinese characters.
Department of Health (DOH) and BFAD inspectors have been taking out Chinese milk products in markets around the country. Samples had also been brought to BFAD laboratories for melamine content testing.
The two agencies have issued memorandum orders banning the sale and distribution of all Chinese milk products in the country.
Other importing countries have also banned Chinese milk products as the Chinese government conducted a crackdown on all milk manufacturers that are using the toxic chemical melamine.
Over 50,000 Chinese babies have been reported sickened due to infant formula milk products that are contaminated with melamine.
Nestle assures safety of products
Nestle Philippines, Inc. earlier assured consumers that all its milk products are safe for consumption amid a health scare regarding milk products from China.
Nestle Philippines Director of Communications Sandra Puno said the raw materials for all its milk products currently manufactured and distributed in the Philippines come from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the Americas.
The company locally produces milk products under the brand names Nido, Bear Brand, Neslac, Nestogen, Nesvita, and Nestle.
Nestle also imports as finished goods NAN 1 from the Netherlands, NAN 2 and 3, from Switzerland, and NAN HW 1 and 2 from Germany.
"Nestle milk products are manufactured under high quality control standards and meet all regulatory standards before they are released to the local market. Nestle thoroughly routinely analyses all raw materials to ensure that they comply with Nestle standards as well as other internationally recognized standards for food quality and safety," Puno said.
Following recent press reports claiming that traces of melamine had been found in a Nestle growing up milk in Hong Kong, Nestle Headquarters in Switzerland said it is confident none of its products in China is made from milk adulterated with melamine.
2.1M kilos of Chinese milk delivered to RP
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) on Thursday disclosed that a total of 2,138,397 million kilograms of Chinese milk were delivered to the Philippines from January to August this year.
The number was broken down into two: milk and cream not concentrated or sweetened (1,467,490 kilograms) and milk and cream concentrated (670,907).
BoC chief Napoleon Morales said a big chunk of milk and dairy products from China was distributed by Fly Ace Corp. and Fonterra Brands Philippines Inc.
Morales said because of the temporary ban ordered by DOH on Chinese milk products, the BoC temporarily canceled the import permits of the two Chinese milk distributors.
The customs chief added that the BoC had also stopped giving import permits to other Chinese milk distributors in compliance to the DOH ban.
as of 09/26/2008 6:30 PM
Source : http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/26/08/bfad-bans-56-milk-products
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