FAO test detects melamine in 3 Chinese milk brands

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FE Report
The government will impose ban on import and sales of only three brands of Chinese powdered milk as a fresh laboratory test in Bangkok has found the baby formulas contaminated with melamine, said Health and Family Welfare adviser AMM Shawkat Ali Monday.
The Chinese brands include Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2. The test conducted under the supervision of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
The presence of melamine, hazardous to health, however, has not been detected in the laboratory test in Australian brands Diploma and Red Cow, Danish brand Dano Full Cream, and New Zealand brands Nido Fortified Instant and Anlene, the adviser said.
He was briefing the journalists after a meeting with the commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman and the agriculture adviser CS Karim at the ministry.
Earlier, the government expert team, formed to detect traces of melamine in imported powdered milk of some foreign brands, submitted its report to the ministry.
The team was constituted following conflicting reports by the Chemistry Department of Dhaka University (DU) and the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) on traces of melamine in eight foreign brands of powdered milk. While the BSTI found such traces in three Chinese brands, the Chemistry Department of the DU reported melamine-content in eight foreign brands of powdered milk.
The Chemistry Department of the DU, according to sources, had not earlier carried out testing of any products and made its report public. This was for the first time that such 'testing' was 'done' by the department.
The health adviser told the newsmen Monday at the press briefing after a meeting of the advisers with the expert committee that the government would send the FAO report to the High Court, which earlier asked the authorities to impose a ban on sales and display of the eight foreign brands until their laboratory-test reports are available.
"We will act in accordance with the court order," he added.
Mr Shawkat said that the government has decided to impose ban on sales and display of the Chinese brands as tests of laboratories including that of the FAO confirmed the presence of melamine in those baby food formulas, which have already been banned in many developed countries.
He said Yashili-1 has got 67.33-mg melamine per kilogram while Yashily-ii 0.28 mg and sweet baby-ii 0.20 mg per kg.
"The powdered milk of eight brands was examined in six laboratories at home and abroad," the adviser said, adding reports of four laboratories including that of the FAO were similar.
"So, we have decided to accept the report of the laboratory test carried out under the supervision of the FAO as it is the most reliable," Mr Shawkat said.
Answering a question whether the government now rejects the test report of the Dhaka University's Chemistry Department, he said: "We have discussed its capability of conducting such a test."
The health adviser, however, reiterated that the government would continue conducting laboratory test of liquid milk available in the market.
The media earlier reported adulteration of liquid milk at a number of places in the country, posing a severe threat to public heath.