The Health Department has recalled White Rabbit sweets after tests found that they contained unacceptable levels of melamine, it said on Friday.
The sweets, usually presented as an after-dinner treat at Chinese restaurants, and sold in specialist supermarkets, were manufactured in Shangai, China, and came up as the only product out of 107 tested in South Africa with unacceptable levels of the coal by-product.
Earlier this year, melamine in Chinese-manufactured dairy products was blamed for many infant deaths and illness.
Provincial and local health authorities, as well as the port health officials, forensic chemical laboratories and the food safety initiative of the Consumer Goods Council started investigating and took 119 samples — mainly imported from China — for testing. The results of 107 have been finalised while the rest are still under way.
At the same time, they brought in various food safety authorities and asked them to ask manufacturers to check the food safety compliance for foods they manufacture or import, as well as foods that used imported ingredients. This included processed dairy products like UHT milk and the imported ingredients for locally manufactured products.
Because South Africa does not have regulations on melamine levels, it used levels referred to in the European Union, the United States and New Zealand. Based on that, the department decided that while there were traces found in products made by Mars confectionery, like M&Ms, they were within acceptable levels.
Authorities in KwaZulu-Natal were also asked to arrange for an investigation at the premises of Far End Dairy of UHT milk that was found to contain melamine, although also at levels below the cut-off guideline, and to determine whether the product was in fact locally manufactured, as indicated on the label.
Meanwhile, the National Consumer Forum (NCF) said that of 19 products it had tested, only Nestle’s Gold Cross condensed milk was found to have faint traces, which were well below the World Health Organisation’s permissible levels.
The condensed milk contained 0,5 parts per million (ppm) while the limit is 2,5ppm, said the NCF, which believes melamine should not be in the food chain at all.
Nestle spokesperson Theo Mxakwe said they were aware of the low levels of melamine — which were ”well within” the international accepted norms and were conducting ongoing tests on products and raw materials.
”We will not release a product if it exceeds safety levels,” he said.
NCF chairperson Thami Bolani said in a statement: ”We are relieved to have found that all our samples were safe for consumers.”
Testing by both the department and the NCF would continue.
According to the World Health Organisation, melamine is a chemical compound that is used for laminates, glues, dinnerware, adhesives , coatings and flame retardants. It is also used to inflate protein content in food. — Sapa