White Rabbit sweets recalled

28 October 2008

The health department has recalled White Rabbit sweets after tests
found that it contained unacceptable levels of melamine, it said on
Friday.

The sweets, usually presented as an after-dinner treat at Chinese
restaurants, and sold in specialist supermarkets, were manufactured in
Shangai, China and came up as the only product out of 107 tested in
South Africa with unacceptable levels of the coal byproduct.

Earlier this year, melamine in Chinese-manufactured dairy products
was blamed for many infant deaths and illness.

Provincial and local health authorities as well as the port health
officials, forensic chemical laboratories and the food safety
initiative of the Consumer Goods Council started investigating and took 119 samples -- mainly imported from China -- for testing. The results of 107 have been finalised while the rest are still underway.

At the same time, they brought in various food safety authorities
and asked them to ask manufacturers to check the food safety compliance
for foods they manufacture or import, as well as foods that used
imported ingredients. This included processed dairy products like UHT
milk and the imported ingredients for locally manufactured products.

Because South Africa does not have regulations on melamine levels,
it used levels referred to in the European Union, the US and New
Zealand. Based on that, the department decided that while there were
traces found in products made by Mars confectionery, like M&Ms, they
were within acceptable levels.

Authorities in KwaZulu-Natal were also asked to arrange for an
investigation at the premises of Far End Dairy, of UHT milk that was
found to contain melamine, although also at levels below the cut-off
guideline, and to determine whether the product was in fact locally
manufactured, as indicated on the label.

Meanwhile, the National Consumer Forum said that of 19 products it
had tested only Nestle's Gold Cross condensed milk was found to have
faint traces which were well below the World Health Organisation's
permissible levels.

The condensed milk contained 0.5 parts per million (ppm) while the
limit is 2.5ppm, said the NCF, which believes melamine should not be in the food chain at all.

Nestle spokesman Theo Mxakwe said they were aware of the low levels
of melamine -- which were "well within" the international accepted
norms and were conducting ongoing tests on products and raw materials.

"We will not release a product if its exceeds safety levels," he
said.

NCF chairman Thami Bolani said in a statement: "We are relieved to
have found that all our samples were safe for consumers."

Testing by both the department and the NCF would continue.

According to the World Health Organisation melamine is a chemical
compound that is used for laminates, glues, dinnerware, adhesives,
molding compounds, coatings and flame retardants. It is also used to
inflate protein content in food.

SAPA