Thread: Need your immediate opinions on the Melamine in US Halloween

This is brand new from just this month!

UPDATE 1-S.Korea finds melamine in China-made Snickers,KitKat

SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - South Korea's food watchdog has ordered China-manufactured snacks from Nestle SA (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Mars Inc to be taken off shelves after detecting melamine in their samples, it said on Saturday.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said 2.38 parts per million (ppm) and 1.78 ppm of the substance were found in M&M's milk chocolate snack and Snickers peanut Fun Size, both produced by Mars and manufactured in China.

"We are urgently recalling the products due to melamine detection," KFDA said in a statement.

Mars said it was temporarily withdrawing the products from the Korean market because it was legally obliged to do so and that the melamine levels announced by the KFDA did not pose a health risk.

Kit Kat bars from Nestle were also found carrying 2.89 ppm of melamine, bringing the total number of melamine-detected items to 10 in Seoul.

Nestle said the KFDA asked it to withdraw one batch of mini Kit Kat made in China from the market, after their tests detected minute traces of melamine in a single batch out of eight Nestle confectionery items tested. No melamine was detected in the other seven products, the company said.

"The company immediately complied with the authorities' request, even though this product is absolutely safe by recognized international standards," Nestle said in a statement.

"South Korea has no regulations on maximum levels of melamine in food, and the conditions under which the South Korean authorities conducted their tests are unclear," it added. Melamine, widely used in kitchen utensils, can pose serious health risks if consumed in large quantities. At least four children in China died after drinking tainted infant milk formula last month.

KFDA said it is currently examining 428 processed products manufactured in China. It had completed checks on 288 items as of Saturday. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Additional reporting by Sam C


www.reuters.com

Can anyone find me a link to that FDA letter?

W

Here you go folks, the reporter was very prompt responding

Thank you WIlliam for your email. You can read the FDA's Oct 10 open letter at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/melamltr.html

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks for reading The Bulletin

Mary B. Worthington

"Dear Colleague" Letter to the United States Food Manufacturing Industry, Regarding Melamine

This letter is intended to ensure that members of the United States food manufacturing industry are aware of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) serious concern about the possibility that foods or food ingredients produced in China and exported to the United States may be contaminated with melamine or its analogues. FDA has information indicating that melamine and its analogues have been added to milk produced in China and that milk contaminated in such a fashion has been used to manufacture infant formulas and other dairy-based products. As of this writing, Chinese authorities are reporting that in China approximately 53,000 infants have suffered illnesses, with 13,000 hospitalizations and four deaths. Approximately 158 of the victims thus far have suffered acute kidney failure. Chinese authorities have disclosed that, in addition to discovering contaminated infant formulas, melamine has been discovered in 24 of 1202 samples of milk and yogurt. There is little information at this stage to determine when the contamination might have begun or how widespread the contamination might be. However, Chinese authorities report that melamine was found in infant formula, milk, yogurt, and ice cream manufactured by 22 companies in China. The Chinese investigation into this matter is ongoing.

There are currently two recalls for products in the United States related to this situation. Tristar Food Wholesale Co., Inc. has issued a recall of Blue Cat Flavor Drink (Lanmao), manufactured in China, due to possible contamination with melamine. Also, seven Mr. Brown brand instant coffee and milk tea products manufactured in China are being recalled by the King Car Food Industrial Co., Ltd. due to possible contamination with melamine. In addition, California and Connecticut report that their testing of White Rabbit Creamy Candies manufactured in China has shown melamine contamination. Further, other countries (South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia, Canada and New Zealand) have all identified products containing melamine including flavored milks, cakes, candies, crackers, rice snacks, coffee creamer, lactoferrin, and cereal.

Milk and milk products that could originate from China include condensed, dried, and non-fat milk, condensed and dried whey, lactose powder, permeate powder, demineralized and partially demineralized whey powders, caseins, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, whey protein concentrate, and milk protein concentrate.

In light of current circumstances, there are several useful steps to help protect the public health available to manufacturers of products containing milk-derived ingredients, including the following:

* Know the precise origin of each milk-derived ingredient. For example, milk-derived ingredients that are sourced from countries other than China could actually originate from China.
* Determine that milk-derived ingredients originating from China are free of melamine and its analogues prior to usage.
* For food manufactured in the last twelve months which might still be on the shelf at retail or in stock elsewhere, determine whether the food might contain any milk-derived ingredients from China. If any such foods exist, verify that they do not contain melamine or its analogues.

In addition, it would be useful for manufacturers to be alert to the possibility that non-milk-derived ingredients from China that are or may be sold on the basis of protein content, such as soy protein, also could be contaminated with melamine.

Should firms decide to recall any of their products because of the presence of melamine, please follow FDA's guidelines in 21 CFR Part 7 Subpart C. We encourage you to communicate any concerns to your local FDA district office.

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as a liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for determining melamine and its analogues is available at the following link to the FDA website:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/ ... ml#testing.

In addition to sending this letter, FDA has taken, and will continue to take, proactive measures to help ensure the safety of the American food supply. In conjunction with state and local officials, FDA will continue to check retail stores for food items imported from China that could contain a significant amount of milk or milk-derived ingredients. At the same time that FDA began working with the States on this matter, it began sampling and testing milk and milk-derived ingredients and finished food products that could contain these milk-derived ingredients from Chinese sources. The sampling is being done either when products are offered for entry into the United States or at the retail level. In addition to working with state and local governments, FDA is working in close cooperation with Customs and Border Protection within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, other federal agencies, and foreign governments.

FDA recognizes and appreciates the extraordinary collaborative efforts to protect consumers by all of the aforementioned government authorities and industry in response to this matter. We are confident that you will continue to work to provide safe food products to the U.S. customer.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, you may contact John F. Sheehan, J.D. at (301)436-2367 or Benson M. Silverman, M.D. (301)436-1459.

Sincerely,

Nega Beru, Ph.D.
Director
Office of Food Safety
Center for Food Safety And Applied Nutrition

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Can anyone find me a link to that FDA letter?

W

I am searching. So far I have found this. Does this help you?

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/melamltr.html

My response to her...

Thank you WIlliam for your email. You can read the FDA's Oct 10 open letter at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/melamltr.html

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks for reading The Bulletin

Ms. Worhtington,

I read the entire FDA letter you sent me and I did not see any mention of the following items being recalled in the US "Cadbury, Snickers, Kit Kat, M&M's and Dove have been recalled from China, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States."

Did I miss something in the letter? If not, what is the source for that information that appeared in your article?

Thank you for helping,

William Gheen

There's a flury of news reports showing up now on Google news engine under search terms Halloween Candy Melamine

news.google.com

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Excuse me but when or did this even happen????

The FDA's letter indicated that seven Asian countries plus Australia and Canada report they have found melamine in a variety of products including candy, flavored milks and cakes. A variety of candies including Cadbury, Snickers, Kit Kat, M&M's and Dove have been recalled from China, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States.

Did I just miss it but I never recall hearing about Cadbury eggs, Snickers, Kit Kat, Mand Ms and Dove being recalled in the US?

Anyobody!?!?!? I am so tempted to do an email alert to the alipac list about this right now. Should I?

Help me here folks.

W

It's a good Idea.

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

My response to her...

Thank you WIlliam for your email. You can read the FDA's Oct 10 open letter at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/melamltr.html

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks for reading The Bulletin

Ms. Worhtington,

I read the entire FDA letter you sent me and I did not see any mention of the following items being recalled in the US "Cadbury, Snickers, Kit Kat, M&M's and Dove have been recalled from China, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States."

Did I miss something in the letter? If not, what is the source for that information that appeared in your article?

Thank you for helping,

William Gheen

I am glad you asked that question. In my search I can find nothing that indicates any of those products were recalled here in the US. Cadbury has a plant in China and it was the Cadbury chocolate over there that was recalled. The same may well be true of the other brands?

I think the big problem is that the milk products from China have been imported to the US and we have no way of knowing if they are in US made candy. Just because there has been no recall here does not necessarily mean our candy is safe. Does that make sense?

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/ ... ml#company


FDA's recall list
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/rssRecalls.xml

The Kroger Value Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips subject to this recall were sold in Kroger stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

This recall was determined necessary after it was identified by 3 consumers that packages of Kroger Value Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips may also contain chocolate chips with undeclared milk protein. The package ingredient label does not identify that the product may contain milk protein.