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Two food products imported from China and sold under a Korean label have been found to contain large amounts of melamine.
The Korea Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said the toxic substance was found in Haitai Confectionary and Foods¡¯ Misarang Custard, which is made by its original equipment manufacturer in China, and in Milk Rusk imported from Hong Kong by J & J International.
The KFDA has been investigating 428 food products totaling 18,195 tons that contain dairy products from China since Monday following a melamine contamination scandal in baby milk in China that caused at least four deaths of acute kidney failure.
A KFDA official said Misarang Custard, which was made by a Chinese food company in Tianjin on an OEM deal with Haitai, was found to contain levels of melamine ¡°unacceptable¡± for food products. The KFDA is conducting an investigation of Misarang Custard made in different time frames other than the initial sample produced on July 22, 2008 and expiring on April 21, 2009. In a sample of Milk Rusk imported on Aug. 13, which expires on Jan. 2, 2010, melamine levels were also high.
Haitai said the ingredients used in Misarang Custard do not come from the 22 powdered milk companies that are responsible for the scandal in China. ¡°We will take responsibility if any case of damage caused by our product is confirmed,¡± it added.
The KFDA decided to recall all of the two products. It also decided to halt import of food products containing milk or powdered milk from China until they are deemed safe.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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