p2pnet news view | Off Topic:- First, a major Listeria scare in Canada, and in the latest food contamination warning, melamine, central in a world-wide poisoning alert which started in China, has been found in cookies sold here.

Chinese search engine Baidu was implicated in the too-slow release of information on the fact Chinese babies developed kidney stones after drinking a milk formula contaminated with melamine, p2pnet was the first media outlet in Canada, if not the West, to report.

Now, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people not to eat Lotte brand Koala’s March filled cookies because they may contain melamine.

Affected products may have been distributed nationally, says the CFIA, but pointing out so far, there have been no reported illnesses associated with the cookies.

“These products manufactured by Lotte China Foods Co., Ltd have been voluntarily recalled by Lotte U.S.A., Inc,” says the CFIA, stating it’s working with importers to remove Koala’s March products from the marketplace and is, “monitoring the effectiveness of the recall”.

The recall is, “part of the Government of Canada’s ongoing investigation into milk and milk-derived products sourced in/from China that may have been distributed in Canada,” it says, going on:

Melamine is a chemical compound used in a number of commercial and industrial applications.  Canada does not allow its use as a food ingredient.”

For more information consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on melamine contamination, visit the webpage at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/2008melamine.shtml.

For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

Meanwhile, “Koala’s March … is a bite-sized cookie snack with a sweet filling inside,”" says the Wikipedia, adding:

“It is made by the Lotte Group of Tokyo, Japan and was released in March 1984 as ‘Koala Yummies’ in the United States. It is in the shape of a koala with a picture of a koala on the outside of the cookie doing various activities. There are various flavors available for the filling, such as honey, cafe latte, and banana. The two most common flavors are strawberry and chocolate, and are the only flavors available in the US along with white chocolate creme filled chocolate cookies.

“While the snack does come in pineapple flavor, it is considered much rarer than other flavors. Koala’s March has been criticized for being high in saturated fat and trans fat.”

Listeriosis scare – Listeriosis – a long way from being over, August 30, 2008
too-slow release – Lawsuit threat over Baidu ‘poisoned milk’ scandal, September , 2008

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Off Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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