New Zealand's main dairy exporter, Fonterra, has found a strain of bacteria causing botulism in some of its products, including infant formula and sports drinks.

It has led to a global recall of up to 1,000 tons of dairy products across seven countries, including China.

Fonterra has not named the eight companies affected.

Botulism is one of the most dangerous forms of food poisoning, often leading to paralysis.

New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries confirmed on Saturday that the tainted products included infant formula, sports drinks, protein drinks and other beverages.

The bacteria was found in three batches of Fonterra's whey protein used in infants' Nutricia Karicare follow-on formula, Fonterra said.
Product lock down

The whey product was produced in May 2012, with a dirty pipe at one of its processing plants in Waikato responsible for the contamination, the company said.

Nutricia has locked down all five batches of formula believed to contain the tainted product and says none of its product was actually sold.

Fonterra - the fourth largest diary company in the world - says it has urged its customers to urgently check their supply chains.

"We are acting quickly," Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said.

"Our focus is to get information out about potentially affected product as fast as possible so that it can be taken off supermarket shelves and, where it has already been purchased, can be returned."

The countries affected beside New Zealand include China, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Fonterra said there had been no reports of any illness linked to the affected whey product.

The dairy industry powers New Zealand's economy, with the country exporting up to 95% of its milk.

Fonterra is a major supplier of bulk milk powder products used in milk formula in China.

Chinese consumers have a special interest after a tainted milk formula scandal in 2008 killed six babies and made some 300,000 infants sick.

The Chinese authorities have already ordered domestic importers to recall all milk products that could be affected.

Fonterra's chief executive, Theo Spierings, plans to fly to China on Saturday to deal with the fall-out.

Botulism is a rare paralytic illness caused by a toxin which is very poisonous to humans.
sumber: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23558830

ada baiknya kita berhati2 terhadap susu formula yang kita berikan kepada anak2.

cobalah perhatikan susu yang anda beli apakah termasuk atau tidak.

perusahaan "fonterra" ini juga merupakan pemegang saham 43% merek susu "sanlu" yang memproduksi susu ber melamin.
sumber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanlu_Group

update :

Abbott Recalls Baby Formula in China Following Fonterra Scandal

U.S. baby formula maker Abbott Laboratories has initiated a precautionary recall of its possibly contaminated products in China after New Zealand dairy maker Fonterra found traces of bacteria which may lead to botulism.

Abbott China said in Monday’s statement that it’s voluntarily recalling two batches of baby formula products which got packaged on Fonterra’s assembly lines. However, it clarified that the products didn't contain tainted substance from Fonterra.

The company said the Fonterra assembly lines which may get polluted with the tainted substance weren’t cleaned properly before they started packaging Abbot’s baby formula products.

About 112 boxes of the two batches were sold while the other 7,069 boxes were sealed up. Abbott said it will destroy all products recalled.

Vietnamese media said the U.S. baby formula is also recalling one of its products in their country following suspicion it could be tainted with the toxic substance.

The Abbott recall is part of a global campaign that is taking place in China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia, after Fonterra, the giant New Zealand dairy cooperative, announced Saturday that a strain of Clostridium which can cause botulism was tested in whey protein concentrate at one of Fonterra’s manufacturing site.

Danone Dumex, an importer of dairy products from Fonterra, also launched a recall of its products in Malaysia while China’s quality watchdog ordered an urgent recall from Dumex which purchased over 200 tons of contaminated dairy products from the New Zealand company.

Dumex has produced 726 tons of baby formula products with Fonterra materials and 420 tons are available in market, said Chinese officials.

China has stopped imports of milk powder from New Zealand following the Fonterra incident, the second food scandal the company has reported this year.

http://english.caijing.com.cn/2013-0...113134575.html