Koala biscuits withdrawn due to melamine contamination
Wednesday 1 October 2008
The Food Standards Agency is today alerting the public about a brand of biscuits from China on sale in the UK that have been found to contain low levels of melamine (4.98 mg/kg).
Batches of 49g packets of Koala brand biscuits manufactured by Lotte China Foods Co. are being withdrawn from sale and their destruction arranged by local authorities. The product has been distributed to Chinese supermarkets and other independent retailers across the UK.
All products from China containing more than 15% milk as an ingredient, or products where the percentage of milk content cannot be established, are currently subject to documentary, identity and physical checks, including laboratory analysis, to determine that any levels of melamine present in the product do not exceed 2.5 mg/kg. Those products with more than 2.5mg/kg will be destroyed.
Product details
The products being withdrawn are all batch codes of:
- Koala Chocolate Cookies 49g
- Koala Strawberry Cookies 49g
- Koala Yummie Cookies Chestnut 49g
- Koala Melon Cookies 49g
The biscuits are unlikely to be a risk to health. Melamine is a chemical used widely in plastics and has been linked to kidney failure but, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said the risk from composite products (food containing a proportion of milk product) is low. However, some people may choose not to eat them.
The alert issued by the Agency follows notification today (Wednesday 1 October) from the European Commission that the affected products have been distributed in the UK and similar action is being taken in other Member States. The Agency will continue to monitor the situation and take further action in the UK if necessary.
Food Alerts
If there is a problem with a food product that means it should not be sold, then it might be 'withdrawn' (taken off the shelves) or 'recalled' (when customers are asked to return the product). Food alerts are the FSA's way of letting local authorities and consumers know about problems associated with food and, in some cases, providing details of specific action to be taken. They are issued under two categories:
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