Nationwide Melamine Recall: Wonderfarm Brand Biscuits

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced another recall over a possible <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/practice_areas/toxic_substances">melamine contamination.  This time, Interfood Shareholding Company is recalling all lot codes of four varieties of its Wonderfarm brand of biscuits.  The recalled biscuits are sold in 800g red metal tins with the manufacturer name indicated as “Interfood Shareholding Company in Vietnam”.  The biscuits were distributed to a variety of states and sold to wholesale distributers, which, in turn, sold the contaminated biscuits to retail stores.  The four varieties involved in this current melamine contamination recall are:

• Wonderfarm “Successful” Assorted Biscuits:  UPC:8935001262091
• Wonderfarm “Royal Flavour” Assorted Biscuits:  UPC:8935001263098
• Wonderfarm “Lovely Melody” Assorted Biscuits:  UPC: 8935001263296
• Wonderfarm “Daily Life” Assorted Biscuits:  UPC: 8935001264200

The recall was initiated after the firm was advised that samples collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture of the Wonderfarm “Successful” Assorted biscuits, tested positive for melamine.  Interfood Shareholding Company was identified as the manufacturer of the product and after being advised that “Royal Flavour”, “Lovely Melody”, and “Daily Life” brand biscuits also tested positive for melamine, the Interfood Shareholding Company agreed to expand its recall to include these biscuit product as well.  To date, no illnesses have been reported.

Consumers who purchased the product are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a refund; questions can be directed to Anthony.ma@jaimporters.com or 323-780-3998.

Melamine is an industrial chemical used in the production of fire retardants, fertilizers, and plastics.  Because of its high nitrogen levels, melamine can create the false appearance of high protein levels in food and is known to have been added to diluted milk in China to falsely raise its protein levels, sparking an international food scandal.

In sufficient quantities, ingesting melamine can cause kidney problems, including kidney stones and kidney failure, and in the case of at least six children in China, death.  The China melamine scandal was first reported early this fall; however, China’s government confirmed that the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., a dairy firm and key participant in the scandal, knew last year its products were tainted and was also aware company and local officials were involved in a cover-up, reported the Associated Press (AP) earlier this month.  The Epoch times noted that this month, the Chinese government admitted that it lied about how many children were sickened, now stating that almost 300,000 infants were affected; the exact number of infant deaths remains unclear, but many reports confirm six fatalities.

Recalls over melamine contamination in products from China are become almost commonplace at this point and a wide variety of China-made products have been recalled in recent weeks—some internationally—for melamine contamination, including milk products, baby formula, eggs, yogurts, candies, milk teas and coffees, crackers, cheese, biscuits, wafers, and cookies, to name some.