Melamine worries prompt temporary recall of milk powder

QATARI authorities yesterday issued orders to “temporarily withdraw” the entire stock of China-made Nestle NesVita Pro-Bones low-fat milk powder from the local market after the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA) announced on Tuesday that “high levels” of dangerous chemical melamine had been found in samples of the product.

Gulf Times on Thursday broke the story of the milk powder being still sold in Qatar though it was withdrawn from the Saudi market in October.

The SFDA on Tuesday evening posted a public advisory on its website regarding “high levels” of melamine it found in five samples of Nestle Nesvita Pro-Bones low-fat milk produced in Heilongjiang, China.

Contrary to reports in some newspapers, the stock in question was still on the shelves of all major Doha supermarkets at 7pm yesterday. These reports quoted the Qatar General Organisation for Standards and Metrology (QGOSM) general manager Dr Mohamed bin Saif al-Kuwari as saying that all the “Nesvita milk powder” had been taken off the shelves.

After visiting a few hypermarkets and a leading co-operative store yesterday afternoon, Gulf Times found the same product from China, with manufacturing dates and batch numbers close to that of the affected Saudi stock, was still available in tins of 400gm (approximately QR18), 900gm (QR36) and 1.8kg (QR63) in Qatar.

At 5pm, Nestle Qatar Trading general business manager Giuseppe Pasqualini told Gulf Times: “Our warehouse has been given a notice in Arabic by the Doha Municipality asking us to temporarily withdraw the product from the shelves.”

Asked about the quantity of the affected product which has been ordered to be taken off the shelves, Pasqualini said “it is a minor amount”.

“This particular product by Nestle is not a mainstream one and as such will have no impact on us. Right now, our priority is to fulfil the orders of the authorities and co-operate with them fully,” Pasqualini said.

According to him, Nestle Qatar would contact all the retailers in Qatar and request them to withdraw the product, “which could take as little as a few hours or as much as a day or two for complete withdrawal”.

Dr al-Kuwari expressed surprise at how the product was still available to consumers and said: “What we have done is to withdraw samples from all areas of Qatar and not just Doha and we are currently conducting tests on it.

“We could not order a total withdrawal because Nestle itself has said their products are free from any hazardous chemical anywhere in the world and I don’t understand how the Saudi government laboratories found it,” Dr al-Kuwari said.

According to him, the result of the tests would be announced after Eid al-Adha. He also appealed to the general public “not to consume it until the QGOSM results are out”.

Monitoring panel to meet

AN URGENT meeting of the Committee for Food Monitoring will be held in Doha after the Eid al-Adha holidays, Qatar General Organisation for Standards & Metrology (QGOSM) chief Dr Mohamed bin Saif al-Kuwari said yesterday.

Dr al-Kuwari told Gulf Times that the committee would discuss precautionary measures to be taken in situations where harmful chemicals were found in food items.

The committee is an interagency body with representatives from QGOSM, Ministry of Business and Trade, National Health Authority and Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning.

“The meeting won’t be just about Nesvita or melamine but will focus on all dairy products in Qatar. One of our suggestions will be a mandatory ‘melamine-free’ certificate for all dairy products,” Dr al-Kuwari said.

According to him, more tests will be conducted on food items for melamine.

“The Health Ministry is importing state-of-the-art equipment which detects melamine. We are working to ensure public safety,” he added.