MANILA, Philippines -- The health ministry today ordered two Dutch milk products removed from supermarkets after tests showed they contained up to five times the allowable level of radioactive contamination, possibly caused by fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster.
Minister of Health Alfredo Bengzon told reporters the recall of Dutch Lady evaporated milk and Birch Tree powdered milk imported from Holland was recommended by the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission.
He said the commission found the two brands of milk products exceeded the allowable levels of radioactivity.
'Our decision was to give an order that these two products should no longer be sold,' Bengzon said. 'In fact those already in the market should be withdrawn and destroyed.'
The PAEC tests showed Birch Tree powdered milk contained as high as five times the allowable level of cesium 137 and 134 while Dutch Lady milk contained radioactive levels double Philippine standards.
The contaminated shipment consisted of 4,500 cases, each containing 48 cans of 410 grams of milk, said a spokesman for Daily Harvest Marketing, the local distributor of Dutch Lady.
She added that only a 'minimal' portion of the shipment had been distributed to outlets.
The local distributor of Birch Tree could not be reached for comment.
PAEC Associate Commissioner Guillermo Corpuz said the commission instructed by the health ministry to examine food imports from Europe. He said the two products were among those examined.
He said that while most food products would show traces of radioactive materials, those found in the two milk brands were 'unusually high.'
'Most foodstuffs show contamination by previous nuclear testing in Europe but these are usually low. When we tested these milk products from Europe, we found their contamination level unusually high.'
'It could only mean the the radiation came from a different source, possibly from Chernobyl,' he said.
It was the second time a protest has been lodged against products suspected of having been contaminated by fallout from the nuclear accident in the Soviet city of Chernobyl.
Last month, a consumer group urged examination of a fertilizer shipment from the Soviet Union, fearing that it could endanger Philippine agricultural crops. No contamination was discovered.
