FDA:No tainted dairy products have been detected in Thailand

BANGKOK, August 6 (TNA) - Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that no contaminated infant milk powder and other dairy products have been detected in the country so far, but the FDA has kept a close watch on the products sold on the domestic market to ensure consumers' safety. FDA Secretary-General Dr. Boonchai Somboonsuk made the confirmation on Tuesday, in response to recent reports that whey protein concentrate (WPC80) supplied by Fonterra, a New Zealand-based company, contained a strain of Clostridium, a bacterial genus which has the potential to cause botulism. Dr. Boonchai told journalists that he has instructed FDA officials to inspect manufacturing lines of Fonterra (Thailand) to see whether it has imported the whey protein concentrate or other consumer products having the WPC80 as their ingredients and to collect samples of consumer products suspected to be tainted with the WPC80 for thorough laboratory tests. According to the FDA chief, his agency has also invited local importers and producers of dairy products and infant milk formulas for a meeting to brief them on the Thai FDA's protection measures for consumers and to seek their cooperation on thorough probes of their raw materials and on their notifications to the FDA regarding their raw materials' origins. Besides, the Thai FDA has urged those seeking to import Fonterra’s whey protein concentrate to present reports on laboratory test results of the product showing that it is free from any contamination. The FDA chief acknowledged that Dumex Thailand had recalled some of its infant milk formulas and other dairy products containing whey protein concentrate supplied by New Zealand's Fonterra, advising that local parents and consumers, thus, immediately return the recalled goods to the company as a precaution. (TNA)