Dairy cooperative Fonterra has offered to send supplies of milk powder from New Zealand to China to assist with the shortage caused by the milk crisis.
The contaminated infant formula scandal continues to widen with confirmation a fourth baby has died. More than 160 babies have been hospitalised with acute kidney failure and thousands remain ill.
Fonterra is a joint venture partner in Sanlu, the Chinese company guilty of supplying the melamine contaminated dairy products. Melamine is a product used in making plastics.
Meanwhile Swiss food giant Nestle has issued a statement saying it is confident its products in China are safe after media reports suggested Nestle products were also tainted with melamine.
“Following press reports in Hong Kong earlier today claiming that traces of melamine had been found in a Nestle growing-up milk, Nestle is confident that none of its products in China is made from milk adulterated with melamine,” Nestle said in a statement.
Media reports had claimed that Neslac Gold 1+ might be affected, Nestle said, but it pointed out that the Hong Kong government’s food safety department had declared that the product was safe.
The product was tested by the Hong Kong Standards and Testing Centre during 18 to 20 September, as well as the Food Industry Research and Development in Taiwan on 16 September, the group said.
“Neither test detected melamine in the product,” said Nestle.