China withdraws US milk powder after nitrite scare
product manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst has been withdrawn from sale
after it was found to contain high levels of nitrite.
A batch of Promise brand milk powder produced by US nutritional product manufacturer Wyeth-Ayerst has been withdrawn from sale by the Chinese authorities after it was found to contain an "unacceptable level of nitrite", according to a report in the China Daily.
Zhao Xuejun, a spokesman for Wyeth-Ayerst's Chinese unit based in Shanghai said the company had withdrawn the product from retailers' shelves, and that consumers would be refunded or be offered an alternative product.
The paper said that the authorities in Beijing had destroyed 480 kilograms of the Promise milk powder after discovering nitrite levels of 6.06 mg/kg, more than three times as much as China's acceptable level.
The milk powder was produced in October in an Irish factory affiliated to Wyeth, the paper said. Promise was launched in China in 1999 as a food for pre-school age children, according to Zhao.The spokesman told the paper that this was the first time a Wyeth product had been found to contain such an excessive amount of nitrite, and that the contamination had been caused accidentally in the course of processing in Ireland.
