Melamine found in milkchocolate wafers

FDA secretarygeneral Dr Pipat Yingseri said inspectors had collected samples of milk and milkbased products in the northeastern province, which is located on the ThaiLaos border. After laboratory testing, samples of the Orphic milkchocolate wafers, imported from China, had a melamine content of 34.37 milligrams per kilogram.

Pipat said this exceeded FDA's regulations, which allows no more than 1mg/kg of melamine in milk products and no more than 2.5mg/kg in milkbased products.

He added that the milkchocolate wafer - produced by China's Tianjin Heijingang Food Stuff Company -had no FDA certification and was being imported illegally.

So far, the FDA has collected 1,000 samples of milk and milkbased products to test for melamine contamination. Of these, 800 have come out negative, while the remainder is still being tested.

Pipat has also urged S&P as well as the producers of the Mali brand products to not include FDA's certification in their advertisements. The FDA said its certification could only be publicised for product lots that had actually been tested.