Pharmacy group to name 'unsafe' brands of milk powder
Pharmacy academy promises to list makers who fail to say if Fonterra supplied their ingredients
Manufacturers of milk powder will be publicly named if they fail to identify their source of whey protein concentrate in 10 days, a local pharmacy group says.
The Academy of Pharmacy intends to compile a list of brands proven safe to consume, amid the discovery of bacteria in whey, an ingredient used in food and drinks, mostly dairy products.
At the centre of the contamination scare is New Zealand producer Fonterra, which supplies the ingredient to various formula brands. Fonterra said earlier that batches of its whey protein concentrate sold to eight food and animal feed manufacturers were tainted with the botulism-causing , a potentially fatal bacteria that affects the muscles.
The academy said it was asking major producers to provide proof if they had not been using whey protein concentrate from Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy foods exporter.
"We are contacting the global headquarters and local general management of the manufacturers to urge them to give us a response," said Iris Chang Yee-man, the academy's specialist pharmacist in infectious disease. "We have the obligation to ensure the products are safe for the public."
