The Macau government’s Food Safety Co-ordination Group urged residents in a statement Monday not to consume certain batches of Cow & Gate baby formula products that are being recalled by the UK dairy products company because they may contain a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause botulism.
The company said that it was recalling batches 3,178 and 3,189 of the Stage 3 product for infants aged between one and three years, with a shelf life until June 27, 2015 and June 28, 2015 respectively, from shops in Hong Kong and Macau.
Cow & Gate said it was informed about a potential problem at the weekend by the New Zealand exporter, Fonterra.
According to The Macau Post Daily, the alert came after it was found that drinks and baby formula containing products made by Fonterra were contaminated with bacteria that could cause botulism.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said yesterday it did not expect the bacteria to have a harmful effect on children that consume the milk.
Macau’s Food Safety Co-ordination Group said that it would keep monitoring the situation, stay in close contact with its counterparts in neighbouring regions and strengthen supervision of the retail sector selling baby formula.
The interdepartmental group also said that the affected batch No. 3,178 had been on sale in Macau.
The group said that as a preventive measure the Cow & Gate’s local agent had taken the initiative to recall the affected products and urged consumers not to consume them.(macaunews)
