The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The five milk powder marketing companies, whose brands were found free from toxic melamine contamination, are now awaiting high court order to resume sale and display of their products.

These companies apprehend billion dollar loss due to adverse impact on their image following the recent row centering presence of toxic melamine in some brands.

Talking to The New Nation yesterday, Managing Director of New Zealand Dairy S A Mallick said they market products of Fonterra, a global supplier of dairy ingredients from New Zealand which itself first identified the melamine contamination in milk powder from China.

He pointed out that Fonterra, which controls 64 percent of the total global export milk power, involved New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to convince Chinese premier to stop production of melamine contaminated milk powder. Its products everywhere is hundred per cent safe for human consumption, he claimed.

Out of 8 brands of milk powder, which were tested fearing melamine contamination, the New Zealand Dairy had three products , namely Red Cow, Diploma and Anlene while Arla Foods supplies Dano and Nestle Bangladesh Ltd Nido Fortified. The reexamination in the UN food agency FAO's Bangkok laboratory had not found melamine in these five items. But toxic melaime was detected in the Chinese made Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2.

Mallick said his business rivals might have plotted the melamine scandal to distort the image of the products of New Zealand Dairy in Bangladesh. "Some days back those people spread propaganda of selling horse milk by our company," he informed.

Ahmed Kabir, Country Manager of Arla Foods, marketing company of Dano, questioned the competence of the DU Chemistry Department to examine melamine contamination in milk powder. " It has equipment, but are its staff qualified enough to detect melamine contamination?" he asked.

Kabir said following the, row he has tested their product at laboratories in Germany and Holland which have not found presence of melamine. Dano is safe for all, he maintained.

"The row has eroded consumers' confidence and victimised both consumers and the milk powder companies. In the long run the consumers will have to pay dearly for this row," he noted..

Laurent Therond, Managing Director of Nestle Bangladesh Ltd, said the news of presence of melamine in Nido Fortified came as surprise to him.

"None of our ingredients come from China. There is no way of contamination of Nido Fortified with melamine. We had tested Nido Fortified in India and SGS laboratory in Singapore and got result at the end of September. None of the test reports mentioned presence of the toxic in our product he," he said.

"We always give priority to consumers' safety. The melamine scandal has created panic among the consumers. It is bad luck for us too," Laurent added