ENVOY DENIES AUSTRALIAN DIARY PRODUCT CONTAINS MELAMINE

Jakata, March 5, ANTARA) - Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer has denied recent claims by the Indonesia's consumer group YLKI that an Australian dairy brand produced in New Zealand contains melamine.

"The claims are not backed up by facts," Farmer said here on Thursday.
Melamine has never been detected in milk produced in Australia or sourced for an Australian branded product above the maximum residue levels dictated by internationally accepted standards.
"The product YLKI named has been recently and repeatedly tested and is free of melamine," Farmer was quoted as saying in a media release by the Australian Embasy.
Rigorous testing of Australian dairy products from dairy farm to processing factories ensures Australia's dairy products are free from dangerous levels of contaminants, including melamine.
Australian dairy products must meet Australian food safety requirements specified in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
The domestic and export dairy systems also include industry and government measures to ensure their products meet relevant public health requirements, including monitoring fraudulent addition of chemicals such as melamine.
Due to the worldwide focus on melamine, Australia has also instigated a special government-supervised testing program to verify the effectiveness of the food safety system for ensuring melamine contamination is not occurring in Australia.
Over 8,000 tests are performed every day on milk supplied from Australian dairy farms. No evidence of adulterated milk has ever been reported from this testing.
Furthermore, following the announcement of milk contamination in China, Australian industry tested over 200 samples of milk and milk products and has not detected melamine in any products.
The results of this additional verification confirm appropriate systems and regulations are in place in Australia to assure the quality, safety and integrity of Australian dairy products.
"We remain confident of dairy products produced under Australian brands. I am eager to have the issue resolved as soon as possible to remove any confusion among Indonesian consumers," said Farmer.
YLKI said on Wednesday some shopping areas in Jakarta had been selling good products containing melamine.
YLKI Chairman Husna Zahir said there are some places through which legally and illegally imported food came into the country