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Cadbury Candies, White Rabbit Candy Recalled Over Possible Melamine Contamination

Sep 29, 2008 | Parker Waichman Alonso LLP

QFCO, Inc. of Burlingame, California is recalling White Rabbit Candy because of possible melamine contamination.  The White Rabbit candies were distributed to California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington state through wholesale distributors to retail stores.

The White Rabbit Creamy Candy is sold in eight- or 16-ounce packages; all other flavors, including Assorted—Chocolate, Coconut, and Coffee—Red Bean, Coffee, Corn, Lychee, Mango, and Strawberry are sold in seven-ounce packages.  All White Rabbit candy packaging contains a logo of a white rabbit on the front with the words "White Rabbit."  The recall was implemented when it was discovered that the candies have been contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine.  Anyone who has purchased White Rabbit Candy is urged to return the candy to the place of purchase for a full refund or discard the candy in the trash.  Consumers with questions may contact the company at (650) 697-6633.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that Britain’s Cadbury said today that tests have "cast doubt on the integrity of a range of our products manufactured in China," according to a spokesman who was discussing the safety of its Chinese-made products.  Cadbury ordered a recall and is the latest foreign company affected by China's tainted milk scandal.  It remains unclear if Cadbury candies contain melamine; however, Cadbury said it has recalled 11 chocolate products made at its factory in the Chinese capital Beijing, which are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Melamine has been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 Chinese dairy companies.  Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added melamine to watered-down milk because its high nitrogen content makes products falsely appear to be protein-rich.  In addition to milk, ice cream, and cookies, melamine has also been found in samples of a popular chocolate-filled Koala-shaped cookie made by Lotte, in which China Foods Co. found melamine at levels 24 times the safety limit.

Also, Pizza Hut suspended supplying cheese powder found to be contaminated by melamine in Pizza Hut’s Taiwan branch.  In Taiwan, three children—two three-year-old girls and a one-year-old boy—who consumed Chinese milk formula were diagnosed with kidney stones. The mother of one of the girls also has kidney stones, said Liu Yi-lien, health chief of Ilan County in eastern Taiwan.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF, the U.N. Children’s Fund, issued a joint statement Thursday expressing concern over the crisis saying, “Whilst any attempt to deceive the public in the area of food production and marketing is unacceptable, deliberate contamination of foods intended for consumption by vulnerable infants and young children is particularly deplorable….  We also expect that following the investigation and in the context of the Chinese government’s increasing attention to food safety, better regulation of foods for infants and young children will be enforced.”  The statement urged increase awareness of the benefits of breast-feeding, which has become less common there in recent years as working mothers moved to powdered baby formulas.