Health Law

FDA Has Not Found Melamine In Imports Yet Warns Consumers Not To Drink Mr. Brown Coffee Or Milk Tea Nor White Rabbit Candy

By Marler Clark

China's melamine scandal hasn't exactly reached the United States yet, but you can now see it from here.   The U.S. Food & Drug Administration this morning issued a warning about "Mr. Brown" instant coffee and milk tea products made in the PRC. 

Business Week sums up the extent of the melamine crisis: In China, more than 50,000 children—most of them babies—have fallen ill and more than 13,000 have been hospitalized. Several Chinese children have died so far.

From FDA's statement today:

...FDA is alerting consumers that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products manufactured in China are being recalled by the King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd. due to possible contamination with melamine.  The products, manufactured by China’s Shandong Duqing Inc., are:

• Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
• Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
• Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
• Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
• Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
• Mr. Brown Mandhling Blend instant Coffee (2-in-1)
• Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)

The FDA recommends that consumers not consume any of the above Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products. The FDA also recommends that retailers and foodservice operators remove the products from sale or service.

FDA says testing of milk products being imported to the United States has not found melamine contamination.

Others, however, have not been so lucky.  FDA says:  The New Zealand Food Safety Authority reports that its testing of White Rabbit Creamy Candies has shown melamine contamination at high levels.

In light of the widespread contamination of milk and milk-based products in China and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority’s finding, the FDA recommends that consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy and that retailers and foodservice operations remove the product from sale or service.

See the rest of the FDA statement here.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on September 26, 2008 (boomark / email).