BEIJING, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Fonterra Co-Operative Group, based in New Zealand, said products made by three of its customers that received toxic whey protein are safe to consume.
Fonterra said earlier this week the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum, which can cause botulism, a potentially deadly food poisoning, contaminated some of the whey protein it produced in May 2012.
Whey protein is used in a variety of beverage products, including infant formula.
Fonterra announced Sunday consumers are safe to consume products made from the whey protein from three of its customers: Wahaha, Coco-Cola and Vitaco, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
"Our technical teams have been working closely this weekend with Coca-Cola, Wahaha Health Food Co. and Vitaco and have established that the process used to manufacture their products would kill the bacteria that was in the affected whey protein concentrate," said Gary Romano, Fonterra's managing director of NZ Milk Products.
"In the case of Coca-Cola and Wahaha, the combination of low pH and ultra-high temperature treatment gives us complete confidence that acid beverages and yogurts [pH <4.5] are safe. In the case of Vitaco, the ultra-high temperature treatment gives us the same confidence," he added.
It was not clear if the products safe from the bacteria included the infant formula produced by Dumex Baby Food Co., which is also a customer of Fonterra.
Meanwhile, China's State Food and Drug Administration met Sunday with representatives from Wahaha, Coca-Cola China and Dumex, Xinhua reported.
The administration asked the companies to recall all products potentially made with the harmful bacteria.
