As Fonterra announced that its protein produced in May last year may contain clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, leading to severe and even deadly food poisoning and paralysis, China's consumer quality watchdog released the list of four companies that have imported potentially contaminated New Zealand dairy product, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The four Chinese importers - Hangzhou Wahaha Health Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Wahaha Import & Export Co. Ltd. Shanghai Tangjiu (Group) Co. Ltd. And Shanghai-based Dumex Baby Food Co. Ltd - named by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) initiated recalls of potentially contaminated products, it reported.
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AQSIQ today also issued a consumer warning for three batches of Karicare-brand dairy products produced by New Zealand company Nutricia.
Nutricia has initiated preemptive recalls over concerns that some materials supplied by Fonterra for the production of Karicare-brand products may be contaminated.
Karicare is not officially imported to China, but may have entered the country through other means, AQSIQ said.
The development is a blow to the Chinese consumers who buy overseas baby milk products at a premium cost after loosing faith in local varieties following a series of scandals.