A laboratory test in Singapore has not found the presence of any harmful bacteria in the samples of five consignments of milk powder imported by a local firm from New Zealand’s Fonterra.
Chittagong Customs House sent the samples of 607 tonnes of milk powder imported by Abul Khair Milk Products Ltd to ALS, a private testing service provider in Singapore, following a request from Abul Khair Group.
On Thursday, the Singaporean firm discarded the possibility of the presence of Clostridium Botulinum in the milk powder after conducting a 15-day analytical test, officials of the customs house said.
The customs authority was supposed to send the samples to Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, but Abul Khair Group opposed it saying that the tests in BCSIR would take more time than needed, the officials said.
Instructed by the National Board of Revenue, customs officials halted the delivery of consignments of 1,000 tonnes milk products to avoid entrance of any bacteria, they said.
The customs authority beefed up checks at the port after Fonterra, the biggest milk cooperative in New Zealand, said in August that three lots of a product used for baby products and in drinks for sportsmen and women contained bacteria which could cause paralysis or death.
The scare led to infant formula being pulled off shelves from China to Saudi Arabia.
Source: The Daily Star