Tainted milk items in S'pore
With melamine found in candy, Singapore halts sale of all products that may contain China milkBy Tessa Wong & Liaw Wy-cin WHITE Rabbit Creamy Candy, a milk-based treat popular with children and adults here, has been found to be contaminated with melamine.
The candy joins two other brands - Dutch Lady strawberry-flavoured milk and Yili Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yoghurt Flavoured Ice Confection - on the list of dairy products from China which the authorities here say are adulterated by the chemical normally found in plastics.
The tainted-milk scandal that originated in China is turning into a global food scare, as governments ban imports and retailers unilaterally take China milk products off the shelves (see list).
In China, four children have died from taking contaminated milk and another 12,892 warded for kidney problems.
Yesterday, a Hong Kong girl found with a kidney stone became the first suspected victim outside mainland China.
Farmers are said to add melamine to diluted milk to artificially raise its protein content.
Coming after a string of scares and general approbation over its safety standards, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao vowed in a state television broadcast to put an end to such scandals.
But the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that a quick reaction to the problem by Beijing had been hampered by delays in releasing critical information about the contamination of milk supplies.
WHO's Western Pacific director Shigeru Omi said his group had been helping China to deal with the scandal's fallout and advised Beijing to improve its safety checking and information disclosure systems.
In Singapore, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) here is taking no chances: Last night, it made it clear that it was suspending the import and sale of any product containing milk from China.
Besides milk and milk products such as ice-cream and yogurt, confectionery items such as chocolate, biscuits, sweets and anything that could contain milk from China came under its latest advisory.
The Straits Times found on Saturday that a 7-Eleven outlet in Braddell had pulled a list of products from its shelves. The list included Snickers bars, M&Ms, Nabisco Chicken In A Biskit, Dove chocolate bars, Mentos yogurt balls, Oreo wafer sticks, and Want Want Take One Baby Bites.
For consumers, reading labels seems advised: A check by The Straits Times last night found that the Snickers and Dove chocolates sold at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Toa Payoh were made in the United States, but those same chocolate brands sold at a neighbouring minimart were labelled 'Product of China'.
The attendant at the minimart said he had not been told anything about chocolates from China, but the shop had stopped selling White Rabbit sweets and Dutch Lady milk last Friday.
FairPrice, the biggest supermarket chain here, said it will be removing confectioneries made with China milk from their outlets from today.
Food science and technology lecturer Dr Leong Lai Peng from the National University of Singapore suggested that consumers buy only food that may contain milk from countries that are major producers of milk, such as Australia.
Avoiding cheap products is also another way. 'With cheap products, there is a chance it is made with milk from a country that sells milk cheaply, such as China,' she said.
Consumers are already wary about processed foods or medicines from China.
Mr Andrew Oh, 38, who works in teleommunications, said: 'That's really scary, it really leads to a confidence loss. We've already been careful about canned food from China after the luncheon meat food scare, now this.'
Meanwhile, a new mother in Chengdu, Sichuan province, sensing a business opportunity amid the tainted-milk scandal has raised controversy by offering in an online advertisement to breast-feed other children - for a price.
The 32-year-old said she has more milk than her three-month-old son can consume and is willing to sell the surplus in a 'breastfeeding service' for 300 yuan (S$63) a day.
(images from the website of Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam)
