All-clear given for 327 China-made products; ban on imports stays
By
Tessa Wong
Supermarkets which have restocked previously pulled items say it is still too early to gauge sales volume. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
THE bulk of food products taken off shelves during September's melamine scare have been given the all-clear to be sold - but many shoppers say there is no going back for them.
With China-made biscuits, crackers, liquid milk, ice-cream, milk and whey proteins cleared for sale yesterday, the two-month sale ban which the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) enforced on them has ended. The import ban, however, is still in place.
The AVA has been lifting the sale ban progressively in the last two weeks. Altogether, 327 made-in-China products - containing dairy and banned from sale as a precautionary measure two months ago - will be put back on shop shelves.
But consumers remain wary of them, if a check with 20 supermarket shoppers yesterday was anything to go by.
About three-quarters of those polled said they would either not buy China food products or wait for a few months to be sure the coast is clear.
A 50-year-old factory worker, who wanted to be known only as Madam Cai, said: 'It's just too scary the way these Chinese manufacturers produce food. They seem so reckless.'
Supermarkets which have restocked Dove chocolate bars, Nestle Milk & Berry Stars cereal and Vitasoy soya milk said it was too early to gauge sales volume.
But some, such as Cold Storage, said they were confident that consumers will go back to these products in time.
The end of the sale ban means importers and retailers can sell their remaining stocks to the public. But with the import ban still in effect, they cannot bring in fresh stocks.
But even as the 327 products reappear on shop shelves, six biscuit products newly found to be melamine-tainted will not be joining them. These include Baby Looney Tunes cream biscuits and Tom & Jerry cheese snacks.
These six bring the total number of affected China milk products to 22. Last month, the China-made raising agents used in 17 Malaysian-made products were also found tainted with melamine.
At a press conference yesterday, AVA chief executive Chua Sin Bin declined to say when the import ban would be lifted.
It would depend on further talks with the Chinese authorities and the outcome of a fact-finding mission to China early next month, he said.
The AVA will send a team of officers to Inner Mongolia, Tianjin and Beijing to inspect places which produce or export significant amounts of products to Singapore.
These include milk production plants, milk-collecting centres and factories which produce foods containing milk.
When the import ban is lifted, importers will have to submit documents from the Chinese food-safety authorities for every batch of products, certifying them melamine-free.
Meanwhile, AVA officers will complete inspecting Malaysian food plants next week. They have been working with the Malaysian authorities and are likely to resolve issues by then.
Banned Malaysian biscuits such as Julie's crackers are likely to be allowed for sale by next week.
