Baby milk powder in China, new recalls?
authorities detect excessive iodine content in another Nestle baby
milk powder, according to Chinese news reports.
This is the second time in under a month that the Chinese government has called on the world's number one food maker to pull a milk powder product from the shelves due to iodine levels.
High levels of iodine can cause goiter, a swelling of the neck resulting from enlargement of the thyroid gland.
The Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce (BAIC) said this week that the Growing one-plus milk powder, made by the Heilongjiang-based Shuang Cheng Nestle, failed to meet safety standards over iodine content, ordering the Swiss firm to recall the product, the Beijing News reported.
Nestle confirmed to FoodNavigator.com today that it is replacing the Growing one-plus milk powder following the authority's findings that the product did not respect regulations on iodine levels.
State media reported earlier that Nestle is also currently replacing or offering refunds on its Chinese brand Jin Pai Growing three-plus milk powder after 13.5 tons of the powder were found to contain excessive levels of iodine.
According to the People's Daily the high iodine content discovered would not result in direct harm to the human body.
The latest Nestle recall will do little to boost public trust, already waning due to a series of food safety alerts, in the country's growing, but fragile, dairy industry.
According to the China Daily, an analyst from Beijing Orient Agri Business Consultancy reports the industry had been developing at a double-digit growth between 1998 and 2003, but growth was only 1.2 per cent last year.
