GHANA – Nestle Ghana has recalled batches of its evaporated milk under the Ideal Milk product and Carnation Tea Creamer brand on basis of quality fault and not food safety issues.
This follows complains by Ghanaian consumers who purchased the products that had coagulated in the packaging despite not being expired.
In collaboration with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Nestle investigated thoroughly, identified the root cause, and put a solution in place.
The process included, but not limited to, a complete Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspection of Nestle’s manufacturing facility in Tema, review of analytical reports, documentation of raw and packaging materials and product analysis.
The FDA released a statement explaining the cause and confirming that this is not a food safety issue following a microbial analysis conducted on sample products.
The Authority highlighted that the root cause analysis indicated that the skimmed milk powder, the raw material used to produce the milk complained of, has poor heat stability.
“This results in the denaturing of the protein leading to the coagulation of the milk. Denatured protein, however, poses no health risk,” parts of the statement read.
The analysis also confirmed that there was no leaching of dangerous chemicals from the inner (lacquer) lining into the milk product.
But following the analysis, batches of evaporated milk manufactured with the affected raw material are being recalled.
As of January 9, 2022, a total of 57,938 cans of the products have been retrieved by Nestle nationwide.
“The FDA assures the public that it’s Industrial Support Department continues to work with Nestle to ensure that the quality defect would not occur,” stated the authority.
Nestle Ghana reiterated saying, “We appreciate the feedback we have received from consumers who have shared their concerns. We want to reassure them we are doing our utmost to ensure that the products affected are recovered and replaced as smoothly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the food giant recently launched a new online platform that consolidates and provides free access to global nutrition and health data for over 190 countries.
Launched in partnership with Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, the platform is a user-friendly, publicly available resource aimed at facilitating the easy sharing of nutrition and health data.
Powered by the Friedman School and Nestlé Research in Lausanne, the Global Nutrition and Health Atlas includes data from established sources including international agencies, NGOs, academic institutes, and peer-reviewed studies.
The data is divided into six key dimensions: demographics, dietary intakes, nutritional status, health status, health economics, and food sustainability.
The platform is aimed to support a wide array of stakeholders, including researchers, health practitioners, policymakers, as well as advocates for healthy nutrition.
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