Nestle milk 'absolutely safe'

2008-10-02 12:01

Geneva - Swiss food giant Nestle criticised on Thursday Taiwanese authorities' demand for it to delist milk products which the government itself had deemed safe for consumption.

Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan's health minister said that six Nestle milk products were banned from sale after they were found to be tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.

Nestle said it has complied, but argued that Taiwan's Department of Health had "confirmed that these products are absolutely safe" by international standards.

"Nestle ... fails to understand why the authorities are asking Nestle to temporarily delist these products, which by their own admission, are absolutely safe by any recognised international standards," said the Swiss group in a statement.

It said that the levels of melamine found in the products were "so minute that they are almost certainly present in any food product anywhere in the world".

It also noted that the level of melamine limit applied in Taiwan is up to 50 times below the accepted international standard.

Several countries have moved to ban products made with milk from China after some products were found contaminated with melamine, which is normally used to make plastic.

Such products have killed at least four children and sickened 53 000 in mainland China, the government has said previously.

- AFP