Melamine certification not granted to all items
THEERAWUT SATHITPHATTARAKUL
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned a major dairy manufacturer against misleading consumers that all of its products are certified by the agency as melamine-free.The FDA issued the warning yesterday following complaints that Friesland Food Foremost (Thailand) Co had sent text messages via mobile phones telling consumers that its milk products are 100% melamine-free, as the company never used milk powder from China.
The manufacturer had also put stickers on its dairy products saying they were all certified by the FDA as safe to consume.
FDA secretary-general Pipat Yingseree yesterday insisted the agency certified only some product lots that had passed its melamine tests.
Disseminating such information could mislead consumers into believing that every item had passed the agency's melamine test.
The FDA will send a letter to the firm, warning it against making such claims, he said.
The agency earlier warned S&P Syndicate Plc, which makes S&P cookies, and Thai Dairy Industry Co, the manufacturer of Mali products, against making advertisements implying that all of their products were melamine-free as certified by the FDA.
Those making such advertisements violate Article 41 of the Food Act of 1979 and they are liable to be fined up to 5,000 baht, said Dr Pipat.
"The FDA understands dairy manufacturers face problems due to the public's concerns about melamine contamination, but advertising their products in that way is not right," said the FDA secretary-general.
Friesland Food Foremost (Thailand) managing director Hahn Hauster yesterday insisted that the company's products were safe and all of them were melamine-free.
Since the melamine contamination scandal erupted in Thailand late last month, when tainted milk powder and milk-based snacks were imported from China, the FDA has tested around 130 samples of food and milk products.
Seven of them tested positive for the chemical and were ordered to be taken off the shelves or returned to the country of origin. Some were destroyed.
Laboratory tests also detected melamine in six other samples, but the amount did not exceed the FDA's safety standard.
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