Sunflower manufacturer says milk not from China

MANILA, Philippines – The manufacturer of Sunflower biscuits assured the public yesterday that the firm’s milk, buttermilk, flour and other dairy ingredients are free from the toxic chemical melamine and the company’s milk was imported from Australia and New Zealand.

Croley Food Inc. said in a statement that their major suppliers of dairy products do not get ingredients from China.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had banned last Tuesday the sale of Sunflower Crackers Blueberry Cream Sandwich after Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety (CFS) found that the biscuit is contaminated with melamine, the chemical used in making plastic that had contaminated several infant milk and dairy products from China.

“In the interest of public safety and well-being of the people, the Department of Health hereby declares the product to be imminently injurious, unsafe or dangerous. As such, it is hereby ordered banned from distribution, sale or offer for sale or export,” Duque claimed in a memorandum.

Croley manufactures Sunflower biscuits in the Philippines.

Croley said other Sunflower variants such as mango cream sandwich, chicken crackers, orange cream and strawberry cream sandwich have tested negative for melamine when examined by Hong Kong’s CFS.

The company gets its dairy ingredients from Anbros Industries Pte. Ltd.; San Miguel Mills and Oleo-Fats Inc., which all issued certifications that their supplies are free from the toxic industrial substance.

The certifications state that Anbros gets its supplies from “the most reputable dairy producing countries like New Zealand and Australia” and that they tested negative for melamine when examined by Singapore-based Setsco Services Pte. Ltd. in February 2008.

Oleo had also assured that it has not imported milk from China but from Australia and New Zealand. San Miguel guaranteed that its raw materials come from the United States of America and Canada.

Croley said they had already “extended full cooperation” with the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) by submitting samples of the full lines of flavors for its crackers and sandwich variants.

“The company will abide by any action that the BFAD may take in the matter of the Hong Kong report. As soon as the BFAD results are available, these will be made public immediately. As a leading baked product, Sunflower has gained acceptance among consumers for more than 31 years and has tried its best to maintain its quality,” it added.