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Melamine Triggers Recall of Cocoa from Canada

Products were sold at Big Lots, Shopko stores

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 20, 2008

• Virginia Child's Kidney Problems May Be Due to Melamine-Tainted Candy • Chinese Companies Pay $160 Million Over Melamine Scandal • Topaz Wafer Rolls Recalled on Melamine Fears • Melamine Triggers Recall of Cocoa from Canada • Vietnam Company Recalls Biscuits Due to Melamine • USDA Will Test Meat Products for Melamine • Melamine Found in Walgreens Chocolate Bars • Chinese Infant Death Toll from Tainted Formula Rises • Some Melamine in Infant Formula is OK, FDA Says • FDA Finds Melamine in U.S. Infant Formula • FDA Blocks Chinese Products Over Melamine Fears • Melamine Scandal Continues to Expand • FDA's Melamine Decision Scares Consumers • DeLauro Raps FDA On Melamine Risk Guidelines • FDA Issues Report On Melamine and Food Safety • Melamine-Tainted Chinese Candy Shows Up in U.S. • Hershey's Says Chocolates Are Safe from Chinese Melamine Scandal • Cadbury Recalls Chinese-Made Chocolates Due to Melamine • Melamine Scare Spreads to Mr. Brown Coffee • Chinese Gorillas Fall Ill as Melamine Scandal Widens • FDA Updates Chinese Infant Formula Warning • Asian Baby Death Toll From Infant Formula Rises • FDA Issues Warning on Chinese-Made Infant Formula

Yet another company has recalled some food products because of possible melamine contamination. This time it's gourmet cocoa products imported from Canada and distributed nationwide to Big Lots and Shopko stores.

On Friday, Dorsey Marketing Inc. (DMI) of Ville St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada, recalled three G&J Gourmet Market cocoa products because they may contain melamine.

One of the potentially tainted products was even marketed as a stocking stuffer.

Specifically, the products involved in this action are:

• G&J Hot Cocoa Stuffer Item 120144 (UPC 061361201444). This product was sold in small green and blue boxes with a backer card, candy cane, and marshmallows;
• G&J French Vanilla Cocoa (UPC 061361201260). This product was sold in a small green bag with a whisk attached;
• G&J Double Chocolate Cocoa (UPC 061361201260). This product was sold in a small pink bag with a whisk attached.

The products were distributed nationwide to Big Lots during the weeks of September 22, 2008 and September 29, 2008 and to Shopko during the week of October 10, 2008, according to the www.fda.gov Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dorsey Marketing, which manufacturers candy and confectionery products, said it had not received any reports of illnesses linked to the products. The company said only a few samples tested positive for melamine, a chemical used to make plastic and fertilizers.

The FDA, however, said the company recalled the cocoa "in the interest of public health and safety of American consumers."

Consumers who purchased these products should return them to the store for a full refund. For more information, customers can contact Tim Acheson of DMI Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, at 1-888-645-1053 or at recall@dmi-global.com.

This is the second time this week melamine contamination has triggered a recall. Just a few days ago, Interfood Shareholding Company of Vietnam recalled four varieties of Wonderfarm biscuits because they were tainted with melamine.

Melamine is not approved for use in human or animal food marketed in the United States — and manufacturers are not allowed to deliberately add it to any food for U.S. consumers.

Concerns about melamine — and its intentional adulteration in imported foods — have repeatedly surfaced in the past year.

In September, Chinese officials discovered melamine in powered infant formula made in that country. Officials learned some dairy plants purposely added the chemical to milk products to make them appear to have higher protein levels.

That contamination is blamed for the deaths of at least six babies in China and the illnesses of thousands of other infants. Doctors say melamine can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

China's melamine-tainted milk scandal has since spread from infant formula to dozens of other food products sold around the world, including candy, coffee, and pretzels.

Melamine is also blamed for the deaths and illnesses of thousands of dogs and cats in the United States in 2007.

FDA officials discovered the chemical in imported wheat gluten from China used to make dog and cat food. Those findings triggered the largest pet food recall in U.S. history.

Although melamine is not supposed to be in animal or human food, the FDA recently concluded that levels below 2.5 parts per million (ppm) do not raise health concerns. The only exception is infant formula. The FDA now says melamine levels of 1 ppm in infant formula are safe. That is a reversal of the zero tolerance policy for melamine the agency adopted in October.

At that time, the FDA said it was "unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."

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