SEPTEMBER 29, 2008, 8:51 A.M. ET
Cadbury Pulls Products From Asian Stores
By SKY CANAVES and JASON DEAN
Cadbury PLC pulled products made at its Beijing plant from Asian store shelves Monday after finding traces of an industrial chemical in its chocolate, making it the latest corporate victim of China's tainted-milk scandal.
Cadbury Asia Pacific said it was recalling all 11 products made at the chocolate factory as a precaution after preliminary test results "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China." Most of the recalled sweets are sold in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. One product line, Cadbury Eclairs Candy, is also sold in Australia.
In its statement, Cadbury said its dairy suppliers had been cleared by the recent spate of government testing but it decided to take further tests of its Chinese products. Some came back positive for traces of the industrial chemical, called melamine, said Trish Fields, a spokeswoman for Cadbury Asia Pacific, though she declined to say which ones. The source of the contamination wasn't yet known.
Sales of Cadbury's Chinese-made chocolates account for less than half a percent of the company's world-wide chocolate sales, Ms. Fields said. In London Monday, Cadbury shares fell 1.4% to 574 pence ($10.57).
The Cadbury recall illustrates the difficulty in containing China's tainted-milk scandal. Since the scandal erupted, regulators around the world have found traces of melamine in food that uses dairy products as an ingredient. The U.S., European Union, India, South Korea and others have recalled or banned products.
Over the weekend, Indonesia's Ministry of Health said its tests had found melamine in 12 types of products sold there, including M&M's and Snickers candy bars made by Mars Food Co., Beijing. In a statement Monday, Mars Inc. disputed the findings, saying the Indonesian results don't match tests by other Asian governments that have cleared its products. Mars said it "remains confident that none of its chocolate or confectionery products made in China include any dairy ingredients adulterated with melamine and that all of its products are safe for consumption."
Indonesian health ministry officials didn't respond to requests for comment Monday.
Tainted milk powder has been blamed by Beijing authorities for the deaths of three infants, while a provincial government has cited a fourth. More than 54,000 have been sickened with kidney disease, according to the central government. Melamine was added to watered-down milk or milk that was protein deficient to make its protein content appear higher.
Ms. Fields said Cadbury had informed mainland Chinese authorities of the test results and expected an official statement to be issued later this week, as government offices are currently observing a weeklong National Day holiday. In the meantime, the company is notifying retailers in China.
The recall came as Chinese authorities continue to detain people involved with dairy distribution, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Police in Hebei Province in northern China detained 22 people involved in a network connected with making, selling melamine and tainting milk, it said. Among the detained, 19 people were managers of 17 pastures, breeding farms and milk purchasing stations. According to police, melamine was produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations.
Write to Sky Canaves at [email protected] and Jason Dean at [email protected]
SINGAPORE: Cadbury candies in Singapore are not affected by the British recall.
Responding to a query by Channel NewsAsia, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said Singapore had previously carried out a pre-emptive move by advising all retailers to remove all brands of China-made milk products from the shelves.
On Monday, British sweet maker Cadbury recalled its China-made chocolates from the shelves in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia in the latest fallout from the ever-widening scandal over tainted Chinese dairy products.
The company issued the recalls after internal tests "cast doubt" on the safety of chocolates made in the company's Beijing plant.
However, it was not clear if the tests had shown the products contained traces of melamine, the industrial chemical blamed for sickening 53,000 Chinese children and killing at least four. - CNA
Cadbury Pulls Products From Asian Stores
By SKY CANAVES and JASON DEAN
Cadbury PLC pulled products made at its Beijing plant from Asian store shelves Monday after finding traces of an industrial chemical in its chocolate, making it the latest corporate victim of China's tainted-milk scandal.
Cadbury Asia Pacific said it was recalling all 11 products made at the chocolate factory as a precaution after preliminary test results "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China." Most of the recalled sweets are sold in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. One product line, Cadbury Eclairs Candy, is also sold in Australia.
In its statement, Cadbury said its dairy suppliers had been cleared by the recent spate of government testing but it decided to take further tests of its Chinese products. Some came back positive for traces of the industrial chemical, called melamine, said Trish Fields, a spokeswoman for Cadbury Asia Pacific, though she declined to say which ones. The source of the contamination wasn't yet known.
Sales of Cadbury's Chinese-made chocolates account for less than half a percent of the company's world-wide chocolate sales, Ms. Fields said. In London Monday, Cadbury shares fell 1.4% to 574 pence ($10.57).
The Cadbury recall illustrates the difficulty in containing China's tainted-milk scandal. Since the scandal erupted, regulators around the world have found traces of melamine in food that uses dairy products as an ingredient. The U.S., European Union, India, South Korea and others have recalled or banned products.
Over the weekend, Indonesia's Ministry of Health said its tests had found melamine in 12 types of products sold there, including M&M's and Snickers candy bars made by Mars Food Co., Beijing. In a statement Monday, Mars Inc. disputed the findings, saying the Indonesian results don't match tests by other Asian governments that have cleared its products. Mars said it "remains confident that none of its chocolate or confectionery products made in China include any dairy ingredients adulterated with melamine and that all of its products are safe for consumption."
Indonesian health ministry officials didn't respond to requests for comment Monday.
Tainted milk powder has been blamed by Beijing authorities for the deaths of three infants, while a provincial government has cited a fourth. More than 54,000 have been sickened with kidney disease, according to the central government. Melamine was added to watered-down milk or milk that was protein deficient to make its protein content appear higher.
Ms. Fields said Cadbury had informed mainland Chinese authorities of the test results and expected an official statement to be issued later this week, as government offices are currently observing a weeklong National Day holiday. In the meantime, the company is notifying retailers in China.
The recall came as Chinese authorities continue to detain people involved with dairy distribution, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Police in Hebei Province in northern China detained 22 people involved in a network connected with making, selling melamine and tainting milk, it said. Among the detained, 19 people were managers of 17 pastures, breeding farms and milk purchasing stations. According to police, melamine was produced in underground plants and then sold to breeding farms and purchasing stations.
Write to Sky Canaves at [email protected] and Jason Dean at [email protected]
SINGAPORE: Cadbury candies in Singapore are not affected by the British recall.
Responding to a query by Channel NewsAsia, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said Singapore had previously carried out a pre-emptive move by advising all retailers to remove all brands of China-made milk products from the shelves.
On Monday, British sweet maker Cadbury recalled its China-made chocolates from the shelves in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia in the latest fallout from the ever-widening scandal over tainted Chinese dairy products.
The company issued the recalls after internal tests "cast doubt" on the safety of chocolates made in the company's Beijing plant.
However, it was not clear if the tests had shown the products contained traces of melamine, the industrial chemical blamed for sickening 53,000 Chinese children and killing at least four. - CNA
