Beware of milk products imported from China

The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) on Tuesday, in Accra, has issued a stern warning to consumers to beware of milk products imported into the country from China. The directive from the FDB was on the backdrop of the current food safety alert on contamination of milk products from China that contains melamine. Melamine is an industrial nitrogen chemical compound used to make plastic and sometimes used as a fertilizer. Several babies in China have fallen ill with some reported deaths, after suffering acute kidney failure, after been fed with formula milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. The fatalities, according to BBC are far higher than was previously admitted by the Chinese authorities. The Chemical, melamine is manufactured by Sanlu, which is partly owned by New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative. Affected products of Chinese origins, according to the FDB, include infant formulae powdered milk, liquid milk, candies, lollipops, cookies, cakes, milk tablets, yoghurt drinks, biscuits, toffees, chocolates, cream crackers and egg rolls, including any other product that contains milk as part of its ingredients which is of Chinese origin. According to the FDB, importers who might have shipped any of the affected products prior to this notice would have their goods confiscated and investigated at the port, before release to the owner. “When you are buying things, be careful and check the label embossed on it. We are not saying that every product from China is under suspicion, but what we are saying is that those milk products from China are under suspicion”, noted Mr. Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko, Chief Executive Officer of the FDB, in an interaction with a group of media practitioners.