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Standard melamine testing method in place, DOH says

The Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday that the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method would be used to test the raw materials for creamers, milk powder and baby formula.

It also said 20 percent of imported milk powder, baby forumla and creamers from high-risk countries would undergo random checks, up from 5 percent at present.

The announcement came one day after health officials said “no consensus could be reached” on a minimum threshold for melamine detection.

Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said yesterday that a standard testing method must be in place to assuage the public’s concerns.

Officials from the health department, the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis (BFDA), the Council of Agriculture, the Environmental Analysis Laboratory and the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection met again yesterday to discuss testing procedures.

They concluded that the LC-MS/MS method would be used to test raw materials for milk powder, creamer and baby formula.

Yeh said that of all the products containing plant protein, non-dairy creamer is the only one that can be contaminated with melamine.

He used an example from his days of fighting SARS to explain the concept, saying “only people with high fevers are suspected [of getting SARS].”

Wu Chia-cheng (吳家誠), deputy secretary-general of the Consumers’ Foundation and a chemistry professor at National Taiwan Normal University, said the LC-MS/MS method is capable of detecting melamine at levels as low as 1 part per billion (ppb), or 0.001 parts per million (ppm).

Yeh refused to say which countries would be considered “high-risk” in terms of additional testing.

He said that starting today, all imports of the aforementioned products must include melamine test reports with indication of the instrument’s detection limit from the country of origin.

If their testing methods are consistent with standards used in Taiwan, then the imports will undergo regular customs procedures.

However, if the testing methods are different, then the melamine content must be verified through tests done here, or the countries of origin must submit test reports in accordance with Taiwanese standards, Yeh said.

As to whether Chinese-made milk powder and dairy products imported into Taiwan through a third country could possibly get in without the additional testing, Yeh said as long as they were “Made in China,” they would not be able to make it past Taiwan’s borders.

As for whether King Car Industrial Co’s (金車) products were contaminated because of imported materials from China’s Zhongshi Duqing (Shandong) Biotech Co, Yeh said, “Duqing should own up to it” because he was 99.9 percent sure the product was from Duqing since there were invoice slips to prove it.”

Yeh said he would ask the Straits Exchange Foundation to invite Duqing to take samples from King Car’s warehouse in Taiwan, where more than 100 tonnes of the contaminated materials have been sealed.

Yeh said tests done by the Food Industry Research and Development Institute, the BFDA and King Car’s laboratory all showed that the imports contained an “unreasonably high” concentration of melamine.

Eating locally made bread, dairy and vegetarian food at the press conference, Yeh said: “All locally produced bread is made from milk powder that has passed tests” so the public should not worry.

In other developments, the health department said two companies, Toong Yeuan Enterprise Co (統園企業股份有限公司) and Masterasia Marketing Co (登盛企業股份有限公司), imported lactoferrin from New Zealand’s Tatua Cooperative Dairy Co and samples had been taken for testing but the results were not back yet.

Tatua Cooperative Dairy Co on Monday suspended exports of lactoferrin, which is used mainly in baby formula, adult nutritional powders and drinks, and yogurt after tests found it was contaminated with low levels of melamine.

Lactoferrin is a chemical commonly found in milk and bodily secretions such as tears and saliva.

Meanwhile, health officials said that contaminated cookies made by Golden Kestrel Co were imported from Malaysia and had already been sealed by the Taipei County Health Department.

Golden Kestrel told Taipei City’s Health Department on Tuesday that 12,135 boxes of its Regimenhouse Milk Sandwich Biscuits, sold in Costco stores, were found to have 29.818ppm of melamine.

It is possible that the factory in Malaysia used contaminated powder produced in China, Yeh said.

As for the Lipton brand 3-in-1 instant milk tea in Hong Kong that was found to contain melamine, “none was imported in to Taiwan,” Yeh said.

Also See: EDITORIAL: Eat at your own risk
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