Food scare prompts widespread recall

They will put the food items back on shelves after passing batch-by-batch inspections with clearance certificates

issued by the DOH to ensure consumer safety.

DOH officials said they will issue the clearance certificates within 24 hours after the retailers's products pass examination by the DOH labs or other labs designated by the Cabinet agency.

They said the measure will cause inconveniences for companies but it will give a clean bill to all products sold by retailing outlets and put consumers at ease.

Bread and other baked food items will be allowed for sale as usual because test results of all samples of bread and related products collected from the market show no traces of milk powder or other ingredients imported from China, including the Sanlu Group.

Sanlu (three deer) was responsible for the widespread food scare because it was the major company supplying melamine-tainted milk powder.

At a press conference in the evening, DOH officials also revised the name list of companies that have imported creamer containing industrial chemical melamine.

The DOH originally banned the sales of creamer imported by "Liuhe" or Union Chemical Industries and Festsun Enterprises.

But the department decided to lift the ban before the products supplied by them met the safety standards of under 2.5ppm of the toxic chemical, which usually causes kidney problems.

The two companies still have more than 200 metric tons of imported products not distributed to retailers or food processors.

Officials said they imposed a temporary ban on sales earlier because traces of the chemical were detected.

But they decided to lift the ban because the products do not exceed the 2.5ppm standards adopted by most nations and Hong Kong.

The decision was adopted after consultation with experts in the field.



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