Fonterra, which owns 43 per cent of Sanlu - the company at the centre of the melamine scandal in China, has denied reports it is looking to sell its stake, according to ABC Online. News reports have suggested the New Zealand dairy co-operative has been in talks to sell its share of the company in the wake of the scandal which has led to the death of four babies and the illness of about 54,000 infants. It has been considered a “criminal contamination”, with over 20 people arrested for... ...Read more »
In the wake of the Chinese milk scandal, which has led to the deaths of four babies and made of 54,000 infants ill, international food safety and health authorities are working together to determine the level of melamine in food that will present negligible risks to public health. “Since the identification of the problems in China, food safety authorities all around the world have been working to identify public health threshold levels for melamine,” Dr Geoff Allen, NZFSA (New Zealand... ...Read more »
Following the contamination of Chinese milk products with the chemical melamine, China has removed over 7,000 tonnes of dairy products (primarily powdered and liquid milk) from retail outlets and food standards bodies around the world are testing Chinese milk-based imports and issuing precautionary product recalls. Australian food safety authority FSANZ yesterday instigated a recall of White Rabbit candies after White Rabbit candies in New Zealand and Singapore were found to contain high levels... ...Read more »
The number of infants sickened by tainted milk products has swelled to 53,000 according to the latest reports from the Chinese Government, with China’s Chief Quality Supervisor, Li Changjiang, stepping down in the wake of the scandal. Li is the highest ranking official brought down so far by the dairy product contamination scandal, according to the official news agency of the Chinese Government (Xinhua). Wu Xianguo, the Communist Party chief of Shijiazhuang City - where Sanlu Group, the first... ...Read more »
Fonterra’s Chief Executive Andrew Ferrier has told media today that he has been “frustrated” with the handling of the contaminated milk issue by Chinese authorities. A baby milk formula produced by Sanlu, a company which NZ dairy giant Fonterra has a 43 per cent share in, has reportedly been responsible for two deaths and over 400 cases of illness amongst infants. The Sanlu Board and Fonterra were made aware of the contamination of the formula on August 2, when a trade recall was... ...Read more »