The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has ordered Nestle to withdraw two batches of its popular Lactogen 1 and Nido 1 baby milk formula in the province this week after positive tests for low traces of melamine.
But Nestle has insisted the products are safe for human consumption.
The melamine scare first emerged in China where tens of thousands of children have fallen ill with kidney problems in recent months, and at least four have died, after being fed baby formula that was later found to have been mixed with melamine.
The withdrawal of the batches of baby formula in KwaZulu-Natal was revealed on Tuesday even as a Durban mother expressed concern that the Nan baby formula she was feeding her one-month-old child was "foaming" in the bottle. She believed it had made her child sick.
Nestle said in a statement on Tuesday night that the Department of Health had asked the company to do a compliance trade withdrawal of a batch of 900g Lactogen 1 manufactured in South Africa in July 2008 (batch code 82050179L1 250g) and a batch of 900g Nido 1+ (batch code 81790181SO2E1M) manufactured in June 2008. A total of 3 808 cans of Lactogen and 699 cans of Nido were found to contain the chemical.
"The company immediately complied with the authorities' request. However, Nestle reiterates that "these products are absolutely safe for consumption and in the absence of any specific South African legislation for melamine in food, that the traces of melamine detected are more than 10 times lower than the WHO guidance level of health concern".
Nestle said that during the melamine crisis in China, which resulted in the death of four babies and the serious illness of more than 6 200 babies, the company had taken "total control" over its milk supply chain locally.
"Systematic melamine testing for all raw milk bought in South Africa was introduced and every batch of dairy products is now tested for melamine before release from the factory. However, testing led to the discovery of melamine in a number of samples of cattle feed, which explains the presence of melamine traces in these batches. Nestle has also taken steps to ensure that the cattle feed used by its South African milk producers is melamine free," Nestle said.
Avisha Naicker, of Durban, said she noticed a few months ago that some cans of the Nestle Nan formula appeared different to others and tended to "foam up" in her baby's bottle. She did not think too much of it until her baby became violently ill last week.
"The milk would foam in the bottle when it was prepared, but some of the cans were fine. Then I got a new can and it happened again and there were bubbles in the bottle and my child started sucking in air and became colicky and started throwing up the milk," she said.
Naicker said she complained to Nestle and it had immediately replaced the can of milk and sent a courier to collect the half-used product. She said she regretted handing over the product as it would have been preferable to send it for independent testing.
"When I called Nestle, they said that they make the milk in two different textures and one is creamish and the other one is whitish. They said some of the milk was made in Brazil and some in South Africa, but the can label does not say where it is made," Naicker said.
Naicker said Nestle had sent her a letter in which it promised to send the milk to a laboratory for testing and that she would be informed of the outcome.
Nestle spokesperson Theo Mxakwe said on Tuesday that the company would need to check the batch number of the milk product before he could comment on the complaint.
In China, melamine was intentionally dumped into watered-down milk to trick food quality tests into showing higher protein levels than actually existed. By-products of the milk ended up in baby formula, coffee creamers and even biscuits.
This is not the first product withdrawal for Nestle this year. The company recalled 400g tins of Lactogen 1 in February after excessive quantities of copper, iron and zinc were found in a November 2007 batch of the product.