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Jakarta Post

Food makers vouch for safety of popular snacks

The investigation was launched to find out whether the 28 products had been contaminated with melamine

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta (The Jakarta Post)
<P><LEADPARA>Four food companies implicated by the Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) in the tainted Chinese milk scandal have made their clarifications to the agency and declared their products safe for human consumption.</LEADPARA>
Thu, October 9, 2008 Published on Oct. 9, 2008 Published on 2008-10-09T10:25:48+07:00

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The investigation was launched to find out whether the 28 products had been contaminated with melamine. The BPOM said it expects to announce the results of the investigation as early as next Monday.

However, Nestl* Indonesia, Mars Foods Indonesia, Kraft Foods Indonesia and Indoeskrim have all vouched for the safety of their respective products.

On Friday, Nestl* announced it had long ceased importing certain foods produced in its Chinese plants.

"We stopped importing Nestl* Milkmaid from China and selling it in the domestic market in 2004," Nestl* Indonesia's head of public relations, Brata T. Hardjosubroto, told reporters.

"We also decided not to use our permits to import and distribute Nestl* Nesvita Materna (a dietary supplement for pregnant and breast-feeding women) in the domestic market since their issuance in 2004."

The two product are named in the BPOM list.

PT Indoeskrim also insists its Meiji Indoeskrim Gold Monas ice cream is safe, despite being on the BPOM list, with director Irsan Yazid saying his company did not use raw material from China in any of its products.

"We use only milk from New Zealand, Australia and the United States," he said.

"Therefore our products are safe for consumption."

Kraft Foods, which manufactures and distributes the popular Oreo brand, was equally adamant about its food safety.

"Our products do not use milk from China in the production process," the company said in a statement.

Three types of Oreo snack are included in the BPOM list.

Mars Foods, producer and distributor of M&Ms, Snickers and Dove (all three of which are in the BPOM list), also vouched for the safety of its products, some of which are produced in China.

It said in a statement that Mars China did not source any milk powder or other ingredients for its products from any company found to be selling melamine-contaminated dairy products.

The statement added that last week, AQSIQ (the Chinese Food Safety Agency), tested samples from Mars China's domestic milk powder suppliers and found them to be free of melamine.

"We are confident that none of our chocolate or confectionery products made in China include any dairy ingredients adulterated with melamine. We are ready to be tested by the BPOM and hope that this process will be finalized soon," said Bondan Pandit Ardi, marketing manager of Mars Foods Indonesia.

He added the company had submitted to the agency documents supporting that argument.

Meanwhile, the BPOM has found Guozhen full cream powdered milk -- which was on the list -- being distributed by a multi-level marketing company, said agency head Husniah Rubiana Thamrin Akib.

"But it has been difficult for us to find it in retail outlets because it's sold by a multi-level marketing firm," she said.

"We're investigating the whereabouts of the importer and the distributor's offices. We do not know how much of the product has been sold here."

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