01/04/2013 (The Nation) - Responding to The Nation’s revelation on milk powder companies keeping mum on their ingredient, Leon Clement,Managing Director of Fonterra Brands in Sri Lanka, broke the ice stating that international food safety standards treaties do not compel milk powder product manufacturers to cite the source of the ingredients in milk products.

Speaking to The Nation with Regard to the allegations that milk powder brands were being vague on displaying the ingredients in their milk powder products, Clement said this was the reason why most milk powder manufacturers do not cite the source of their ingredients, he explained.The milk powder found in all of Fonterra’s products is imported from New Zealand, while liquid milk and other dairy products such as yogurt that come under the Fonterra brand are all produced locally from milk obtained through local dairy farmers, he assured.

When questioned as to the amount of fat present in milk powder products, Fonterra’s MD said the level of fat in milk powder products may vary depending on different factors such as the amount of sunshine available and the grass eaten by cows.“However, countries have a maximum level of fat that can be present in milk powder, and in Sri Lanka too, the Ministry of Health and the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) have a border testing regime and a very robust mechanism whereby tests are carried out to ensure that imported milk powder products don’t exceed this level of fat and also to ensure that all other local food safety standards are met”, he added.

The Nation also questioned Clement on the use of vegetable and palm oil in their products. He noted some manufacturers use ‘Filled Milk’, which is essentially milk reconstituted with fats, from sources other than dairy cows. This is usually done through vegetable and palm oil. Clement noted this was not necessarily a bad thing to do. “However, we at Fonterra are committed to using only natural milk in our milk powder products”, he said.

Fonterra runs into a palm oil storm
However, Fonterra’s official website notes that the company does use palm oil when an effective and affordable alternative is unavailable. It does not disclose what products palm oil is used in.

“Palm oil: A sustainable approach
Palm oil is a vegetable oil widely used by food manufacturers globally across an extensive range of products. It is used in some products to enhance texture and to bond (emulsify) the ingredients or to provide supplementary fats.Sustainability is a priority for us, and this includes being careful about where we source our ingredients. In Australia and New Zealand when it comes to palm oil, we substitute other products whenever an effective and affordable alternative is available. When we’re not able to do this, we aim to use palm oil sourced from sustainable producers through the Green Palm™ scheme.  Green Palm™ is endorsed by the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Fonterra is an RSPO member.

Core parts of our business are already using palm oil sourced through the Green Palm™ scheme and we’re on track to hit our goal of only using this by 2015. Our products that do contain palm oil do so in very small amounts.All Fonterra Brands New Zealand products fully comply with Australia, New Zealand and international food safety standards.”

In a report released in 2011, Grain, an international non-profit organization that works to support community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems, claimed Fonterra, ‘regularly blends its powdered milk with vegetable oil in its products for poor consumers’. Fonterra, which leans heavily on New Zealand’s global reputation for high-quality milk, regularly blends its powdered milk with vegetable oil in its products for poor consumers.  “If you can make a product that has a substantive part of the nutrition of a full cream milkpowder – but it’s just a different cost base and a lower unit price – there is a market for that”, says Mark Wilson, Fonterra’s managing director of the multinational’s Asia–Middle East arm. “While we are a dairy, we also need to be cognisant of satisfying consumer demands.”

Chairman of Pelawatte Dairy Industries (Pvt) Ltd, and Maubima Lanka Foundation, Ariyaseela Wickramanayake claimed many foreign milk powder manufacturers use vegetable oil in their products. He claimed there was no need for this. “When it comes to locally produced milk powder such as Highland and Pelawatte, it is 100% made from natural milk”, he noted. However, when it came to the issue of ingredients, The Nation found that even Pelawatte milk was being rather vague, as there was no mention of where the Vitamins A and D3 in their milk powder came from, while Highland claims the only ingredient in their milk powder products is ‘milk’.

CAA tough on labelling
Chairman of Consumer Protection Authority (CPA), Rumi Marzook, told The Nation, that Sri Lanka does not have the technical capacity to screen milk powder brought into the country.  He also added that the CPA is in the process of finalizing a gazette notification aimed at streamlining and improving labeling regulations.

‘We will insist, through this notification, that amounts and percentages of ingredients be displayed prominently on the packaging,’ he said.   At present consumer awareness in the country is limited to checking the expiry date, Marzook acknowledged.  He agreed that regulations should ensure that all products clearly list all ingredients as well as sources and said that necessary action will be taken in this regard.