Beware & Protect Yourself 01 (May 08 - Dec 08)

[winston]

Lotte Koala Biscuits recalled

The importer of popular Lotte Koala Biscuits is recalling about 10,000 packages from the market after Macau health authority found the level of melamine in the product has exceeded the legal limit.

Tests conducted by the authority in Thursday found the melamine.

A spokesman of ASA. Pacific (HK) said it will conduct its own laboratory tests on the product and also try to obtain the sample tested by Macau authority.

ParknShop, Wellcome and Jusco have pulled the popular snack off their shelves.

Consumers could bring the products back to retailers to get a refund.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong announced last night that test results of all the 105 food samples were safe.

[winston]

Taiwan's Pizza Hut withdraws tainted cheese

• China pulls top candy off shelves as milk scandal deepens
• Taiwan minister resigns after outcry over toxic Chinese milk
• S'pore consumer confidence in Chinese products drops amid milk scandal
• 5 more China-made products found tainted with melamine

TAIPEI: Taiwan's Pizza Hut said Friday it had pulled grated cheese from its outlets after they were found to contain unacceptably high levels of the industrial chemical melamine.

"Our delivery shops island-wide have stopped supplies of the grated cheese after tests for melamine showed higher than the allowed levels. We apologise to the public," a company spokeswoman told reporters.

The company said the grated cheese, which is mixed with creamer, contained 30 times the permitted level of the chemical, at 76 parts per million.

It estimated that some 130 kilograms of the product, which comes in small individual servings for sprinkling on pizzas to add flavour, had already been distributed by its 143 delivery shops.

Pick Food & Machinery Corporation, which makes the product, said in a statement the creamer came from a Malaysian company and the cheese from New Zealand dairy producer Fonterra.

It said further tests had been conducted to determine which ingredients were contaminated and results are expected to be out next week.

Fonterra is partner to the Chinese company Sanlu, which is at the centre of the toxic milk scandal in China.

China has said 53,000 children have been sickened by milk products laced with melamine and four have died, prompting a host of nations to ban, or at least scrutinise, Chinese dairy imports.

- AFP/yt

[winston]

Hong Kong says it's found melamine in baby cereal made by Heinz

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong government says it has found traces of the industrial chemical melamine in baby cereals and crackers.

The government said in a statement Friday the contaminated baby cereals were made by Heinz. It says melamine was also found in steamed potato wasabi crackers produced by Silang House.

It was not immediately clear whether the products were made in China.

The government urged the manufacturers to stop selling the products in Hong Kong.

Garfield Balsom, a spokesman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said the Heinz product is not being imported into Canada.

-With files from The Canadian Press

[winston]

Soybeans, With a Side of Gasoline By Kelley Herring

What do protein bars, printing presses, and your gas pump have in common? Hexane!

Hexane is a byproduct of gasoline. It is used as a solvent for glues (rubber cement, adhesives), varnishes, and inks, and also as a degreaser in the printing industry.

You might be surprised to know that hexane is also used to extract edible oils from seed and vegetable crops - primarily soybeans. And that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), short-term exposure to hexane at high doses can affect the central nervous system. Neurotoxic effects have also been demonstrated in animal studies.

Manufacturers of natural foods use only expeller-pressed oils and fats that do not involve the use of hexane in the crushing process. However, the resulting "residual soy meal" is used in many soy protein powders that are turned into cereals, bars, smoothies, and other foods touted as "natural."

So how can you protect yourself against hexane exposure? Avoid all "conventional" processed soy foods, including foods made with hydrolyzed plant protein and soy protein isolate/concentrate. And when you do eat soy products, opt for those not processed with hexane, including fermented soy milk, fermented tofu, miso, tempeh, and soy sauces.

[kennynah]

send all those who are responsible for producing melamine contaminated products to the gallows....

[winston]

Instant Coffee, Tea From China Recalled for Melamine By David Olmos

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Seven instant coffee and milk tea products made in China are being recalled in the U.S. because of possible contamination with melamine, as health fears increased worldwide over the safety of Chinese dairy exports.

The Mr. Brown brand mixes are being recalled by King Car Food Industrial Co., based in Taiwan, and were made by China's Shandong Duqing Inc., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said today in a statement. The agency said consumers shouldn't use the products.

The recall is the first announced by the FDA since milk tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical, was tied in China to the deaths of at least four babies and the illnesses of an estimated 53,000 children. The 27-nation European Union yesterday banned all imports of dairy-based Chinese food products for children and infants. India also has placed a three-month ban on diary products from China.

``The FDA is still in the process of determining how widespread the distribution is of Mr. Brown products in the United States,'' said Stephanie Kwisnek, an FDA spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

The FDA also warned consumers today not to eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy after New Zealand's food safety authority found the product had high levels of melamine. The agency said it was unaware of any illnesses in the U.S. connected to the candy or to Mr. Brown products.

Asian Store Inspections

U.S. regulators continue working with local and state health agencies to check for Chinese-made infant formula in food markets in communities with large Asian populations, according to the FDA. Inspectors have visited more than 1,400 groceries in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and other cities without finding any Chinese infant formula.

People who shop in Asian stores should check products for dairy ingredients from China, said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food and safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer group. An investigator from her group found milk from China as an ingredient in yogurt drinks, biscuits, buns and pastries in Asian markets in Arlington, Virginia, she said in a telephone interview.

The FDA ``is starting to catch up with the rest of the world,'' said Tony Corbo, a legislative representative with Food and Water Watch, a Washington-based nonprofit consumer organization. ``The Mr. Brown coffee and tea products were under suspicion in Canada last week.''

Food and Water Watch called on the FDA yesterday to ban imports of all Chinese dairy products and urged foodmakers to test any goods they have already purchased for milk-derived ingredients.

Call for Reform

``The recent scandal involving contaminated milk products from China clearly demonstrates that significant work remains for China to reform its food safety system,'' said Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, who is chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA.

Melamine, used to produce plastic and tan leather, was added by some suppliers to make the protein content in diluted milk appear higher than it was, the Chinese government has said. Melamine traced to Chinese suppliers was also found in pet food that sickened dogs and cats in the U.S. last year.

[winston]

Japanese producer finds melamine in recalled food

• Hong Kong finds melamine in Heinz baby cereal
• Three Taiwanese children ill after drinking Chinese milk
• Taiwan's Pizza Hut withdraws tainted cheese
• China pulls top candy off shelves as milk scandal deepens
• Taiwan minister resigns after outcry over toxic Chinese milk

TOKYO - A public health centre in Japan said Friday it had found a toxic chemical in four products made by one of the country's leading food makers, which had earlier issued a recall as a precaution.

Marudai Food Co recalled more than 300,000 buns and other products last week fearing contamination by tainted Chinese milk.

The four tainted products are: Gratin Crepe Corn ready meals, Cream Panda and Matcha Azuki Milk Man sweet buns for consumers and Cream Panda buns for commercial use, according to the public health center in Osaka Prefecture, Kyodo News reported.

Marudai said no consumers have complained of illness after eating its products, Kyodo reported.

Melamine, an industrial chemical normally used to make plastics, was discovered in one of the products, a company official said, adding that there were no reports of health problems from consumers.

The Japanese government has ordered firms that import dairy products from China to test them for melamine.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare order requires importers to test their goods at registered inspection institutions. Violators could face up to one year in prison or fines of up to one million yen (9,400 dollars), Jiji reported.

Food safety has become a major political issue in Japan. Ten people suffered pesticide poisoning in December and January, and thousands of others reported feeling sick after eating frozen dumplings imported from China.

Asia's largest economy imports 60 percent of its food, the highest rate of any rich country.

- AFP /ls

[winston]

ParknShop dumps China-made M&Ms, Snickers and Oreo

Supermarket giant ParknShop has removed three popular snack products -- M&M's, Snickers and Oreo, following reports in Indonesia that they were found to contain Melamine.

ParknShop said it would only remove M&M's, Snickers and Oreo items that had been produced in China.

It may also refund customers who have bought these products .

Meanwhile, the Centre for Food Safety is now seeking more information from Indonesia.

It will also collect samples of the three products for testing.

[winston]

Hong Kong arrests man over bank rumors
Source: CNN

Hong Kong police have arrested a man for allegedly spreading rumors on the Internet about a bank run amid anxiety in the Chinese territory about the U.S. financial crisis, police said Sunday.

The man was arrested Saturday for allegedly using a computer with criminal or dishonest intent but has not been charged, police spokeswoman Odelia Tam said. Police officers noticed Friday that the 34-year-old man left a message on an Internet discussion forum saying a run would occur on a local bank and urging people to withdraw their deposits, the Hong Kong government said in a statement late Saturday.

Tam confirmed the statement but declined to identify the bank or the suspect. Last Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of customers swarmed the Bank of East Asia's offices in Hong Kong and Singapore demanding cash withdrawals after an unconfirmed rumor questioned the bank's stability.

[winston]

Cadbury recalls China-made sweets
AAP

BRITISH sweet maker Cadbury has recalled its China-made chocolates from shelves in Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the company said today - the latest fallout from the toxic milk scandal.

Cadbury said it had carried out tests on products made at its Beijing plant after the scandal, which has sickened some 53,000 Chinese babies who drank milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine.

"As a result of these tests ... we have received results that cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China," Cadbury Asia Pacific said.

"As a result we believe it is appropriate to take a precautionary step to withdraw from the market, all of our Cadbury chocolate products that were manufactured in our Beijing plant ... pending further supply of fresh products."

The 11 brands recalled include Cadbury Eclairs and bulk packets of Dairy Milk chocolate, the statement said.

The chocolates are only distributed in Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as one product line that is sold in Australia, Cadbury said.