Swiss food giant Nestlé has rebuffed claims from Saudi Arabia’s food safety watchdog that a batch of its milk powder on sale in the country contained harmful levels of melamine.
“All Nestlé dairy products sold in Saudi Arabia – just as anywhere else in the world – are absolutely safe for consumption. No Nestlé product is made from milk adulterated with melamine,” a spokesperson for the company told just-food today (4 December).
“The safety and quality of its products is a non-negotiable priority for Nestlé,” the spokesperson emphasised.
According to a statement on Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority website, 400-gramme packs of Nesvita Pro Bones produced on 6 May by a Nestlé plant in China were found to contain levels of melamine that could be harmful to health.
Products tainted with melamine have been linked to the deaths of six children and hospitalisation of thousands more in China, where dairy farmers used the industrial chemical to artificially increase the protein content of milk.
However, Nestlé vigorously defended the safety of its products.
“The product, which is not available on the market anymore, was tested by Nestlé as well as by an accredited independent laboratory previously. The results were well below the limits defined by a number of governments, including Canada, New Zealand, the European Union, and by international organisations such as the World Health Organization,” the spokesperson said.
“Nestlé reiterates that these products are absolutely safe for consumption. In general terms, melamine is found throughout the food chain across the world in minute traces which do not represent any health risk for consumers.”
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