The Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) is maintaining its stand that local distributor, International Pharmaceutical Agency (IPA) Guyana Ltd effect an “immediate recall” of Lailac Infant Milk from the market.
This was confirmed yesterday by Minister in the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings.
In correspondence dated March 7, 2016 seen by Stabroek News, Marlon Cole, Director of GA-FDD instructed IPA “to with immediate effect remove from our local market Lailac Infant Milk”. He added that “failure to respond will leave the Department with no alternative but to withdraw our cooperation with your company. The Department will in fifteen (15) days from the notification of this correspondence initiate a public recall and seizure of this product if the company continues to defy the Department’s directive.” IPA is however disputing the issues raised by GA-FDD.
The GA-FDD decision according to the March 7th and previous correspondence, was taken because the importer has been unable to provide evidence that the product is freely sold and distributed in the country in which it is produced, a condition necessary to enable compliance with Food and Drug Regulation (12) of 1977 and the fact that the product is labelled infant milk though in the production process vegetable oils were used to replace milk fat in contravention of Codex Alimentarius 1986, a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations relating to foods, food production, and food safety.
Additionally, the GA-FDD is contending that it has no information on the vegetable oil used in the product.
This newspaper has also been informed that the GA-FDD has been notified of complaints made by the Materials Management Unit of the Ministry of Public Health regarding batches of the infant milk.
A check at several Health Centres on the East Coast confirmed that Ministry of Health staff have had to remove several tins of the product from the centres since the unexpired product has been found to be unacceptable.
Minister Cummings told Stabroek News that she had been informed that both doctors and mothers have been complaining about the milk.
“I have been advised that while it is labelled milk it should not be labelled as such since it is fortified with vegetable oil and not milk fats. Further it is made in France but not sold in France. We have adopted the standard that any product to be distributed in Guyana must be used in the country where it is produced,” she explained
Both Cummings and Health Minister Dr George Norton directed Stabroek News to refer to the recommendations of the GA-FDD which has responsibility for product certification.
Though efforts to contact IPA owner Lloyd Singh proved futile Stabroek News understands that IPA is contending that vegetable fats are only used in the product as a source of calories and not to fortify the ‘milk’.
IPA is further claiming that they informed GA-FDD via letter of the details of the vegetable oil used including laboratory analysis. The company also contends that it has promised to provide all other required information upon request.
