Alert! So is Munchy biscuits tainted with melamine too?

Oct 19th, 2008 by Lilian.

I picked up the post from Shadowfox who got the news from International Herald Tribune that Munchy’s biscuits are found to be tainted with high level of melamine.

The news in full from IHT.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s food safety watchdog said Saturday it has found unsafe levels of the industrial chemical melamine in crackers made by a Malaysian company.

The Center for Food Safety said it found the chemical in two samples of crackers manufactured by Malaysia’s Munchy Food Industries Sdn. Bhd. It did not say where the products were made.

Milk powder contaminated with melamine has been blamed for the deaths of four infants and for sickening about 54,000 others in mainland China. Hong Kong has also found 10 children with kidney stones who had consumed Chinese-made milk products.

A sample of Munchy’s Mini Crackers with Peanut Butter was found to contain 5.4 parts per million of melamine, while Munchy’s Mini Crackers with Cheese Cream had 3.8 ppm, the food safety watchdog said in a statement. The territory has set the safe limit at 2.5 ppm.

Calls to Munchy Food’s office in Malaysia went unanswered Saturday. A notice on its Web site says its products are safe for consumption because the ingredients come from France or Australia.

“We do not source any of these ingredients from China and our suppliers assure us that there is no danger of melamine adulteration in their products,” the notice says.

Chinese authorities have blamed dairy suppliers for contamination there, saying they added melamine to watered-down milk to dupe quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein.

Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.

Just last night, I was out shopping for biscuits and saw Munchy’s products all over the shelves. Mothers are buying some for their little children. I never like Munchy’s and have hardly buy this brand. I got myself a packet of Hwa Tai cap ping pong cream crackers and another tiny square crackers from Hwa Tai too. I use the tiny squares crackers, spread cream cheese, put a grape and topped with smoked salmon. Yummmm….

Ok, I digress. Well, Shadowfox hinted that we may be misled with the safety level over here in Malaysia. Let me quote what he said:

Seems that there’s now a huge news about local Malaysian company biscuit factories other than Khong Guan, tainted with melamine. Munchy, the most famous company in Malaysia and overseas for its biscuits, is now involved in a scandal that could potentially drag the Kementerian Kesihatan and reputation of Malaysia down to the pits.

and further….

I wonder how many companies that actually passed the melamine contamination test in Malaysia is truly safe, or have they bribed their way out because of their connections to the government as cronies.

This shows that when their products are tested for melamine overseas, it failed the acceptable melamine contamination levels. In Malaysia they were probably passed acceptably by our health ministry. I really start questioning if corruption is involved in the testing of melamine in foods, especially in companies with crony links to politicians, or is our health standards so low compared to other developed countries?

If you’re worried and pissed off about being duped by this company, you can contact them using the information below:

MUNCHY FOOD INDUSTRIES SDN BHD

Lot 9366, Batu 7, Simpang 3, Togang Pecah, 83010 baru Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
+60-7-4153322
cktan@munchy.com.my
CK Tan

So, I hope there is no truth to Shadowfox’s suggestion. But…. frankly, I too do wonder if some of the bigger corporate companies are spared from stringent tests. Can’t blame us for being suspicious because so much abuse of power, greed, indignation to human health and corruption have gone around our country and the culprit and murderer country - China.

Please pass the news on IHT around to your friends and loved ones. We do not want them to consume industrial chemicals and die a slow death, do we?

http://www.malaysiabest.net/2008/10/19/alert-so-is-munchy-biscuits-tainted-with-melamine-too/