Sri Lanka temporarily bans Fonterra milk powder

Sri Lankan Government health officials have confirmed that the country has suspended the sale of three batches of Anchor milk powder manufactured by Fonterra after some children consumed the product and fell ill.

However, New Zealand-based Fonterra said that individual investigations into the batches showed they were safe for consumption.

The government took the decision to suspend the distribution and sale of the product after a complaint of food poisoning was lodged in the southern village of Girandurukotte, which is 224km away from the capital Colombo.

Reuters quoted the secretary of Sri Lanka’s public health inspectors’ association Senerath Bandara as saying that the health services had ordered the confiscation of all stocks of the three batches.

"We have been ordered to hold them until the investigations are over, following the reports that several kids had fallen ill after consuming the milk powder," said Bandara.

Officials also said that the packets have been sent to laboratories for further tests.

In an email statement to Reuters, Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka scientific and regulatory affairs associate director Sanath Mahawithanage said that the quantity of the batches is approximately 76 metric tonnes.

"At the time of receiving the complaint, most of the product had already been sold right across the island without any issue," Mahawithanage said.

"Our investigations conducted on samples from these three batches by internationally accredited independent laboratories confirm that there is no food safety or quality issue."

Fonterra is currently waiting for the results of the local tests and directions from the health ministry.

The company was previously banned from selling or advertising its products in Sri Lanka after the country’s food safety authorities said they found high levels of the agricultural chemical dicyandiamide (DCD) in a few batches of its milk powder. However, Fonterra denied the findings.

Sri Lanka is one of the biggest importers of New Zealand dairy products, with approximately $196m of its total milk powder imports of $300m coming from the country in 2012.

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Image: Fonterra’s Anchor milk powder has been temporarily banned in Sri Lanka. Photo: courtesy of Theeradech Sanin / freedigitalphotos.net.