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**Giuseppe** · September 29, 2008, 03:42 AM

Re: Hong Kong: Alert on Cadbury chocolate products [CFS]

Hong Kong: Melamine scandal hits candy makers - CNN.com

Melamine scandal hits candy makers

HONG KONG, China (AP) --

British candy maker Cadbury has recalled 11 types of its Chinese-made chocolate as a precaution, the Hong Kong government said, becoming the latest foreign company affected by China's tainted milk scandal.

Cadbury Asia Pacific told the Hong Kong government's Center for Food Safety the chocolates were made in Cadbury's factory in the Chinese capital Beijing, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear if tests found the industrial chemical melamine in the products.

After-hours calls to Cadbury's media office in Britain went unanswered.

China's recent food safety scandal started with the discovery of melamine in baby milk powder.

Four deaths have been blamed on the bad milk, and some 54,000 children have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking the contaminated baby formula.Authorities say suppliers might have added melamine, which is rich in nitrogen, to watered-down milk to deceive quality tests for protein.

Meanwhile, two U.S. foodmakers were investigating Indonesian claims Monday that high traces of melamine were found in Oreo wafers, M&Ms and Snickers imported from China.

Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said a dozen allegedly tainted products distributed nationwide, including those popular brands, had repeatedly tested positive last week.

Kraft Foods Inc. and Mars Inc. said they were adhering to a recall order but stressed the same products were cleared of melamine in other Asian countries. They were looking into explanations, including the possibility that the goods could be counterfeit.

The companies said they would conduct their own tests with outside experts.

"We have asked our trade partners and retailers to suspend the sales of our products in accordance to the agency's order," Mars Indonesia spokesman Bondan Ardi told The Associated Press on Monday.

Kraft said in a statement it understood the government's measures and will "support their advocacy on behalf of consumers."

"We are trying to understand what methodology was used," Tod Gimbel, Kraft's director of corporate affairs for the Asia Pacific, told the AP by phone from Singapore.

"The results are unusually high."

The Indonesian agency did not say how widespread the contamination might be.

Indonesia stepped up testing of Chinese food imports foods after melamine-tainted milk was blamed in the deaths of four infants and sickened more than 54,000 children in China.
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<cite cite="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/candy.milk.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories">Melamine scandal hits candy makers - CNN.com</cite>

**vinny** · September 29, 2008, 04:32 AM

Re: Hong Kong: Alert on Cadbury chocolate products [CFS]

does anyone know of any products that have been recalled or mentioned as unsafe in the uk,thanks.

**Sally Furniss** · September 29, 2008, 05:31 AM

Re: Hong Kong: Alert on Cadbury chocolate products [CFS]

 

Cadbury withdraws China chocolate on Melamine concern

Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:13am BST

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HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - Confectionery group Cadbury said on Monday it was withdrawing all of its 11 chocolate products made in Beijing on concern over the possibility of contamination with melamine in its Chinese plant.
The London-based group said its products, including Dairy Milk chocolate, were being recalled from mainland China and the export markets of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia as a precautionary step pending further supply of fresh product.
A growing list of Chinese milk and milk-related products have been taken off shelves around the world in recent weeks after it came to light that some milk had been contaminated with melamine which led to thousands affected and four deaths.
Melamine is a relatively cheap industrial chemical that can be used to cheat protein quality checks in milk and a week ago the Chinese health ministry said 104 people were seriously ill and close to 40,000 others were affected by contaminated milk.
"The withdrawal is due to concern about the possibility of melamine contamination in our chocolate," said a Cadbury spokesman based at its London headquarters.
Last week Cadbury said three factories from which it sources its dairy ingredient supplies in China had been tested by the government and no melamine had been found, but further tests had revealed some doubts so the recall was ordered.
"We believe it is appropriate to take a precautionary step to withdraw from the market all of our Cadbury chocolate products that have been manufactured in Beijing, pending further supply of fresh product," the group said in a statement.
Cadbury shares were off 0.9 percent at 577 pence by 0950 GMT in a London stock market down 2.7 percent.
The products include a range of Cadbury's chocolate lines and Choclairs made in Beijing, although only one line - Cadbury Eclairs - was sold in Australia. Cadbury's Chinese business is small with sales of less than 0.5 percent of group revenue.
..
In Hong Kong the government's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) appealed to the public to stop eating the chocolates concerned and said its laboratories would check the products for melamine.
"We would alert the trade to stop selling the affected products. The Centre would test the related products. We are closely monitoring the situation," the CFS said.
Among other western food groups with operations in China, the world's biggest food group Nestle and France's Danone said all their products have been cleared by Chinese authorities, while Unilever Plc/NV said all its milk powder for its Chinese Walls ice cream operation was sourced outside China.
(Reporting by David Jones and Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Keiron Henderson, Greg Mahlich)

reuters.com

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE48S2B520080929?sp=true

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Hong Kong: Alert on Cadbury chocolate products [CFS]

Hong Kong: Alert on Cadbury chocolate products [CFS]

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