NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): New cases of melamine contamination in milk products in China continued to hog the headlines. The Chinese government says it has sent unidentified food inspectors to crack down on new cases of milk products tainted with deadly melamine. The recent discovery of similar tainted products indicated the continuing presence of the compound despite the 2008 disaster.

It was reported last month contaminated dairy products had resurfaced in many provinces in China in a reminder of the 2008 scandal in which 300,000 children were sickened and at least six of them died. Last November, two people accused in the 2008 scandal were executed

Eight teams of inspectors were sent to 16 of China's 34 provinces where these cases have resurfaced, said an official with the National Food Safety Rectification Office, headed by the health minister, Xinhua reported Wednesday. The authorities said it was greed on the part of the traders to make money that led to more melamine contamination incidents in the country.

India procures 20 mn tonnes of rice
The rice procurement in the present marketing season in Inida has crossed 20 million tonne mark. As per data received from procurement agencies, the total rice procurement has touched 20.14 MT. This is only 3% lower than last year’s procurement as on date despite severe drought in the kharif season this year.

Punjab has contributed 9.27 MT followed by Chhattisgarh 2.51 MT, Andhra Pradesh 2.12 MT, Uttar Pradesh 2.11 MT, Haryana 1.81 MT and Orissa 1.05 MT.

California Wines
California wine makers are finding demand is down to the point where high-end bottles are losing some of their pricing power, a wine critic said."Wines priced over $300 have encountered considerable resistance, with their mailing list customers dropping off, or taking much smaller allocations," wrote critic Robert Parker in the Wine Advocate.

The wine has not changed, but "sadly, far too many proprietors of high-end Napa wines are in denial, and have failed to recognize the dramatically changing parameters in the wine world of the consumer," Parker wrote. Many exclusive wines unaffordable to most and pressed in batches so limited that they hard to find are now popping up on retail Web sites, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But pricey wines are not the only sector of the industry in a slump. Industry analyst Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg-Fredrikson & Associates said shipments of all wine from California fell last year for the first time since 1993, and they fell "by a whopping 4 percent or 4 million cases," the Times said.

Mercury poisoning in Sprite?
In two separate incidents Chinese media reported that two people appear to have suffered mercury poisoning after drinking cans of Sprite. Coca-Cola is assisting Chinese police with its investigation into the poisoning cases that both took place in Beijing – the first one in November last year and the second just two weeks ago.

In a statement, Coca-Cola has ruled out the possibility that mercury contamination could have occurred at its Beijing plant. The soft drinks giant said the Sprite drinks may have been maliciously contaminated after the canning process. “In these isolated incidents, it could be said that our products have been deliberately contaminated during its circulation channels,” said Coca-Cola in a statement quoted in China Daily. Chinese media reports into the poisoning cases give an indication of the severity of the contamination.

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In the first reported case back in November a man is alleged to have vomited several beads of mercury after drinking Sprite purchased in a restaurant in Beijing. In the second case on January 17, parents of a 13-year-old boy took their son to hospital claiming that he had fallen ill after drinking a can of Sprite bought at a Beijing supermarket.

China Daily quoted the father of the boy saying that he had had checked inside the Sprite can and found something the size of a soybean that looked like mercury. Coca-Cola has tested samples from its production at the time of the poisoning incidents and found no evidence of mercury. But the company has agreed to independent testing and has promised to cooperate fully with the Chinese police investigation to determine the cause of the contamination as promptly as possible.

China has become and important and fast growing market for Coca-Cola. Only last October the company opened a RMB 600m ($88m) bottling plant in the central industrial hub of Wuhan.

US Food contamination and recalls
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Pierino-brand frozen jumbo shells with cheese because they contain undeclared eggs. The FDA said Pierino Frozen Foods Inc. of Lincoln Park, Mich., initiated the recall of the 24-ounce packages because they pose a health hazard for people allergic to eggs.

The recalled products, which have an expiration date of "01/2011" or earlier, were distributed in Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, Texas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Aahu Barah-brand dry apricot food treats due to a potential safety risk. The FDA said Global Commodities Inc. of Hicksville, N.Y., initiated the recall after New York State Agriculture & Markets inspectors discovered the product contained undeclared sulfites, posing the risk of a serious or life-threatening reaction to people allergic to the chemical. The recalled dried apricots were distributed in New York State in clear plastic packages marked with an expiration date of "12/2013."

Two spice distributors have been linked to the nationwide outbreak of Salmonella in the United States after the latest tests “strongly suggest” that black Pepper is the source of the contamination. Daniele Inc, the meat company at the centre of the outbreak, has so far recalled more than 1.3m tonnes of ready-to-eat sausage products in relation to the outbreak that has sickened 207 people across 42 states. The Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed yesterday that Black Pepper samples imported by two of Daniele’s distributors - Mincing Oversees Spice Company and Wholesome Spices - have tested positive for salmonella.

The distributors imported the pepper from common sources and Daniele is now buying pepper that has already been treated to insure the elimination of Salmonella and other infectious organisms, said the body.

“These recent findings show that black pepper used during the manufacturing process at Daniele was the likely source of this outbreak,” said Director of Health David R. Gifford, MD, MPH. “This outbreak only underscores the importance of closely monitoring food that is imported from other countries as they may not have the same food safety standards as we do.”

Laboratory tests of 208 containers of 16 brands of salad greens sold last summer in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York found bacteria, some very high.

The report, published in the March issue of Consumer Reports and available online at www.ConsumerReports.org, assessed total coliforms and Enterocccous -- "indicator organisms" found in the human digestive tract and in the ambient environment -- that can signal inadequate sanitation and the presence of disease-causing organisms.
There are no existing federal standards for indicator bacteria in salad greens, but there are standards for these bacteria in milk, beef and drinking water.

Several industry consultants suggest an unacceptable level in leafy greens would be 10,000 or more colony forming units per gram. Thirty-nine percent of samples exceeded this level for total coliforms, and 23 percent for Enterococcus, Consumer Reports says. The tests did not find E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella -- potentially deadly pathogens that can be found in food -- although it was not expected given the small sample size, the report says.

Many packages containing spinach, and packages within one to five days of their use-by date, had higher bacterial levels. Packages six to eight days from their use-by date generally fared better, Consumer Reports says.

National Meat Board In India
India has set up National Meat & Poultry Processing Board (NMPPB) to oversee the growth and further promotion of Meat and Poultry sector in the country. The NMPPB has been registered on 26th March, 2009 under Societies Registration Act, 1860 and has been notified in the Gazette of India extra ordinary vide notification no. 127 dated 20.1.2009. The Board started functioning from the leased accommodation at 7/6, Association of Municipalities and Development Authority, Siri Fort Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi. The NMPPB is an autonomous body and would initially be funded by Government of India for two years and would be managed by the Industry itself. The NMPP Board will have 19 members including CEO of the Board.

The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 2nd January, 2009 approved establishment of the Indian Grapes Processing Board (IGPB) at Pune, Maharashtra registered under the Societies Act, 1860 to focus on research and development, extension, quality upgradation, market research and information, domestic and international promotion of Indian wine. The IGPB has been notified in the Gazette of India extra ordinary vide notification no. 169 dated 22.1.2009. The Board of IGPB shall consist of Chairman and 14 members including a Convener/ Secretary of the Board.

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