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Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008 0:00 am TWN, CNA

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COA lifts alarm over alleged tainted milk

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Milk reported to have been contaminated by the milk of diseased cows has passed drug residue tests, a Council of Agriculture (COA) official said yesterday. Huang Ing-haur, director of the COA’s Department of Animal Industry, said health and agricultural authorities collected samples of the raw and processed milk in question for tests and the results “were either negative or showed no drug residue.”

The allegedly tainted milk was sold under two fresh milk brands — Highland and Chiang Chun — that are both marketed by leading food manufacturer, AGV Products Corp. The milk was processed by an AGV-contracted dairy processing plant in Miaoli County.

According to a report published April 16 by Apple Daily, one of the plant’s suppliers in Yunlin County supplied it with milk from diseased cows that was purchased at low prices from neighboring dairy farms. Because the milk was produced by cows during and immediately after a period when they were receiving medication, by law it could not be processed for human consumption.

The revelation prompted AGV to recall the two brands of milk, and led health and agricultural authorities to launch an investigation into the situation. Huang said that the drug test screened for antibiotics, such as tetracycline, penicillin, sulfonamides and chloramphenicol, but found no traces of any of them.

He suggested that the situation described in the Apple Daily report, in fact, was quite unlikely to have happened because according to council guidelines for dairy processors’ procurement of raw milk, any milk found to have drug residues after arriving at their plants should be dyed and rejected. Of the more than 40,000 raw milk samples tested by the COA last year, 99.74 percent passed the tests, Huang said.

Despite the false alarm, the COA said it will step up random checks to ensure dairy farmers rigorously follow proper procedures in medicating their animals. In the meantime, the agency insisted domestic fresh milk and dairy products were “safe,” and urged local residents to consume them freely.

Although health and agricultural authorities cleared Chiang Chun’s name, its plant in Miaoli said Monday that the credibility of both Chiang Chun and AGV Products had been “irreparably damaged.” Chiang Chun said the market for all dairy products on the island were hit hard by Apple Daily’s report last week, with sales falling by between 30 and 40 percent.

The company indicated that, along with AGV, it had borne the brunt of the incident, losing an estimated NT$10 million (US$328,950) daily since the report was published. Chiang Chun said it reserved the right to file suit against the Apple Daily and would also devise measures to regain the trust of consumers.

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