SL suspends milk powder from New Zeeland due to botulism scare

Sri Lanka Ministry of Health has instructed the Customs to immediately suspend the clearance of milk powder containing Whey Protein on health concerns. The Health Ministry also decided not to release stocks of milk powder imported from New Zealand until further tests are carried out on all imported milk powder products,  the Health Ministry said. China, Vietnam and Russia have already banned the import of milk powder and whey protein from the New Zealand after the botulism scare.

Be careful of consuming imported milk powder

All milk products with traces of Whey Protein or Clostridium Bacteria will also be removed from stalls of all local markets and super markets until further notice. Laboratory tests will be carried out randomly on samples obtained from stocks in the local market. According to instructions issued by Health Services Director General (DGHS) Palitha Mahipala the laboratory tests carried out by the Food and Environment Unit of the Health Ministry in Thailand have found no traces of Dicyandiamide (DCD) in milk powder.

The latest announcement by the New Zealand's dairy giant Fonterra that its milk supply was contaminated with botulism bacteria has added to the Sri Lankan government's earlier concern that the milk powder imported to the country contains traces of dicyandiamide (DCD), an agrochemical. The Health Ministry Food Advisory Committee headed by Director General of Health Services decided in May this year to ban the imports of tainted milk powder after public complaints were lodged over the presence of trace amounts of DCD found in the imported milk powder.

Although the Ministry of Health announced on July 29 that the tests carried out in a Thailand Laboratory had found that there was no dicyandiamide (DCD) contamination in any of the imported milk powder sold in Sri Lanka. However, the Sri Lanka Ministry of Research and Technology led by Minister Champika Ranawaka claimed that the tests carried out within the country by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) have shown the presence of DCD in the samples tested of the brands  from New Zealand.

However, further tests have been ordered to ensure full safety of imported milk products. Some 177 samples randomly obtained from the local market have been used in the tests. The Health Ministry has further instructed Thailand scientists to pay attention to Whey Protein and Clostridium in tests to ascertain the milk powder imported to Sri Lanka were free of any foreign matter.