It’s in chocolate, too. The disturbing and frightening melamine mess has made its way to candy bars. British candy maker Cadbury just recalled chocolate made in its Beijing factory after tests show it contains melamine, the industrial chemical that has made tens of thousands of Chinese children sick.
The recalled products were sold in parts of Asia and the Pacific and include Cadbury Dark Chocette, Cadbury Eclairs, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate and Cadbury Hazelnut Praline Chocolate.
Cadbury’s chocolates sold in the United States were not affected, a spokesman for Hershey’s – Cadbury’s U.S. distributor – tells the Associated Press.
Kraft Foods and Mars Next?
Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency says tests have found melamine in some products distributed nationwide, including M&Ms, Snickers bars and Oreos.
Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, and Mars, the maker of M&Ms and Snickers, say they will comply with an Indonesian recall but plan to do their own tests and look into the possibility the tainted products were counterfeits.
Melamine Mess
Melamine was first found in powdered infant formula made in China, but has now been popping up in dozens of other products. More than 50,000 children in China have gotten sick from formula or other products containing melamine. Four babies have died.
Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Some Chinese dairy plants have added it to milk products to make it seem to have a higher protein level.
It’s the same chemical from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year.
So, is your food safe from melamine? Check out this very thorough and entertaining take on the melamine mess over at Healthhabits.
I hope the next headlines don’t say melamine is in food here in the U.S.
WOW! this is so scary! Another reason to go organic. Who would have thought about chocolate, though.