We've heard in the last several days about tainted milk containing melamine being found in baby formula and other milk-like products.
But now, the most heinous offense: it could be in your chocolate.
British candy maker Cadbury said Monday it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates found to contain melamine, as police in northern China raided a network accused of adding the banned chemical to milk.
A Cadbury spokesman said it was too early to say how much of the chemical was in the chocolates made at its Beijing plant.
Where and on which store shelves is the tainted chocolate found?
Cadbury said the 11 recalled chocolate products were distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.
U.S. companies Kraft Foods Inc. and Mars Inc. said they would adhere to a recall order of Chinese-made Oreos, M&Ms and Snickers in Indonesia, but said they wanted to conduct their own tests with outside experts.
Did the U.S. dodge this bullet? Perhaps. The recalls so far seem to be products actually made in China using Chinese ingredients. However, these are trusted U.S. brand names, and we know from the pet food crisis of last year that melamine-laced additives can and do end up as ingredients in US manufacturing facilities.
So, I call this to your attention as a public service.
Read the labels. Milk byproducts are in everything.
- Packaged baked goods. And even some nice bakeries add casein as a dough conditioner, so "home baked" bread isn't entirely safe.
- Cheese. Most cheese in your grocer's case these days has dairy additives and has been reprocessed. Also check your yogurt. Is it one of those flavor- and additive- loaded yogurtesques? It probably has dairy additives. "Low fat" versions get milk protein additives for texture and to raise the protein/fat ratio.
- And now, chocolates. Candy bars. The more "milk chocolaty" and stuff-loaded they are, the more likely they have milk additives.