Cadbury recalls chocolates made in China

Melbourne, Sep 30: Confectionery giant Cadbury has decided to withdraw products manufactured in its Beijing factory from the market, following fears of contamination from toxic Chinese milk. The company's announcement about its decision to take the precautionary step of recalling the products comes after melamine was found in chocolates tested in Hong Kong.

In Australia, the voluntary recall will affect 180g Cadbury Eclair candy bags, which are produced in China. "Chinese dairy products are not used in any of our other Cadbury products we manufacture in Australia," the Australian quoted the company as saying in a statement. The company's headquarters in Hong Kong has confirmed that melamine had been found in tests on products made in China.

A spokesman for the company said that it would be too early to say how much melamine was found in the products. Earlier, when initial tests 'cast doubt' on the safety of its Chinese-made products

Cadbury had earlier recalled its Chinese-made products after initial tests "cast doubt" on their safety.

"As a result of these tests ... we have received results that cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China. As a result, we believe it is appropriate to take a precautionary step to withdraw from the market all of our Cadbury chocolate products that were manufactured in our Beijing plant," the company said in the statement.

Milk products laced with melamine, known for use in making plastics, have claimed four children's lives in China, and affected the health of tens of thousands.

The 11 brands recalled include Cadbury Eclairs and bulk packets of Dairy Milk chocolate. The chocolates are only distributed in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

A spokeswoman for Food Standards Australia and New Zealand said the risk of illness from consuming the Eclairs, though minimal, was being taken seriously.

"You would have to constantly eat these products over a period of time to have any effect," she said.

The agency said that it had been approaching retailers and suppliers for the past two weeks to ensure that contaminated products were not on Australian shelves.

"We are working closely with the states and territories to make sure that no products, even with small content of dairy, are affected," the FSANZ spokeswoman said.

Last week, Australian retailers pulled a popular Chinese sweet, White Rabbit Creamy Candies, from shelves after it was found to contain melamine.

Testing of the confectionary by authorities in New Zealand confirmed that it contained melamine, mixed with milk powder in China to boost its apparent protein levels.

ANI