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By Dawn Tay
CONSUMERS are generally upbeat about the decision by the
Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) to allow some imported
China-made milk products back on the shelves.
After a blanket ban of almost two months, 21 types of butter,
ghee and non-dairy creamer made in China will be released with
immediate effect, the AVA announced yesterday.
Singaporeans my paper spoke to welcomed the news.
Mrs Elizabeth Ang looks forward to buying her baby daughter's
favourite biscuits, which were taken off the shelves. Said the
29-year-old dentist: "But I'll steer clear of China-made baby
cereals. And I'll never drink Yili milk again."
These products have been categorised by the AVA as being at "low
risk" of melamine contamination.
The category also includes China-made products that use milk
from other countries as an ingredient.
For example, butter is classified as a low-risk product because
it is fat-based, and melamine is relatively insoluble in fat, said
AVA chief executive Chua Sin Bin.
Expect the following products to be available for sale in three
weeks: "Medium-risk" products such as bread, biscuits, crackers,
candies, chocolate and cake; and "higher-risk" products like liquid
milk, ice cream, milk protein and whey protein.
The AVA is considering lifting the import ban on China milk
products when China provides a full account of its investigations
and improvements made to its food-safety system.
But Dr Chua clarified that should the ban be lifted, fresh
batches of products would be brought in, and not old and possibly
contaminated stock.
He did not put a date on when the ban would be lifted.
The AVA has spent an estimated $1.6 million testing for
melamine-tainted products.
While Hong Kong and Bangladesh were still clearing tainted
China-made products off the shelves as late as last month, Dr Chua
warned against taking an over-conservative stance.
He said: "We're not trying to be gungho (in releasing products
for sale). After our first round of tests...we've found that the
picture is largely confined to China-made products.
But he added that the AVA is not ruling out finding more
melamine-tainted products.
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http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20081112-100039.html