Tainted milk crisis hits more global companies
By ELAINE KURTENBACH – Sept 27, 2008
"We have to think about any processed food with milk or protein in it," said James Rice, a food industry veteran who is now
While his company is not affected, for others "that includes biscuits, cake mix, energy bars, anything that should have protein in it," he said.
Many food companies already were taking special precautions before Chinese milk suppliers were found to be adding melamine to watered-down milk to boost its apparent protein content. The chemical, which is high in nitrogen, can fool tests aimed at verifying protein levels. The compromised dairy products are blamed for sickening 54,000 children.
Some companies learned the need for extra diligence in
But many continued to disregard the risks, said Jeremy Haft, a businessman who runs factories in
"I don't think much was learned from the recalls of a year ago," said Haft, who has written of his experiences in a book, "All the Tea in
Tokyo-headquartered Lotte Group, a major snack maker, got caught up in the storm Friday after its popular chocolate-filled Koala cookies were recalled in Hong Kong and
Packages of the cookies, still on sale in
"We will look deeply into all the details of the manufacturing process," said Kayh Kim, manager of Lotte China Food's planning department in
In
Meanwhile, the Shanghai-based maker of White Rabbit, a popular vanilla-flavored toffee, said it stopped domestic sales after the
That followed White Rabbit recalls in
When rumors of melamine-related recalls of Oreos and other sweets spread by phone text messages and on the Internet earlier this week, Kraft Foods Inc. hastened to reassure customers that none of its Oreo-brand products contain milk powder from
Oreo fillings contain no milk, while Oreo cookies with icing on them use milk powder from
As they expand operations in
"The most important thing is that if you're going to make an investment and have your name tied up with it, you have to have control over what's going on," McLaughlin said. For some, that may mean going it alone.
Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, the world's leading producer of cocoa, chocolate and confectionary products, set up its own factory west of
The factory is testing milk products from all local suppliers, setting aside any from domestic sources until it is confirmed safe, said Gaby Tschofen, the company's vice president for corporate communications.
A decision by Japanese beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd. to set up its own dairy farm in
Asahi Green Source Farm, a venture with fellow Japanese companies Itochu Corp. and Sumitomo Corp., is stocked with more than 1,000 dairy cows from
"We already realized the importance of the source of raw milk, since it's easy for trouble to crop up in a booming market, and we have made every effort to control the manufacturing process for liquid milk production," she said. "Better safe than sorry." Associated Press researcher Ji Chen contributed to this report.