Victims of tainted baby milk can sue producer: SFDA official

Customers who can prove they have been harmed by the contaminated baby milk that was taken off the market on Aug. 5 can sue Fonterra, the producer of Similac Gain Plus 3 baby milk, said Muhammad Al-Meshal, CEO of Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA).

He noted that the work of SFDA is merely supervisory to ensure the safety of food, drugs and medical equipment.

Al-Meshal said Wednesday that there is a special action team to closely monitor local markets on issues of food and drugs safety. He said the authority is making all efforts possible to monitor the markets. “It is a mission entrusted with us until Judgment Day,” he added.

The authority cooperates with other government bodies in this regard, such as Ministries of Health, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and Municipality and Rural Affairs along with Saudi Customs.

About 500,000 packs of Similac Gain Plus 3 were withdrawn from local markets, said Issam Abdulhadi, vice president of Abbott Middle East.

Abbott’s Similac products were sourced from Fonterra, or the New Zealand Milk Products.

“The number of imported packs amounted to 530,000, so there are 30,000 packs still missing,” said Abdulhadi.

Fonterra managing director Gary Romano resigned in the early days of the crisis of the contaminated milk, with escalating international calls to boycott the company’s products from China to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Meshal said that alternatives to the product are available in Saudi markets. “The contaminated quantities have already been withdrawn from the markets and they are in the custody of Saudi Customs. If these quantities prove to be contaminated, they will be destroyed,” said Al-Meshal.

Fines and sanctions will be imposed on the company in compliance with Saudi laws on commercial cheating. “The procedures that the authority will implement if the charges prove to be true will involve putting a ban on the imports from the company, until it changes the ingredients of the products.

“The products of all violating companies will be under close scrutiny,” said Al-Meshal. He added that all products entering Saudi Arabia will be detained at the port with the importer bearing the charges until samples are taken and tested at the authority’s laboratories.

“Our labs are internationally accredited. Our teams visit the factories and plants in the countries of origin to ensure the safety of the products, and their compliance with hygiene requirements.”