DSM targets melamine
contamination with antibody launch
Source of
Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/DSM-targets-melamine-contamination-with-antibody-launch By Neil Merrett, 25-Mar-2009
A development in antibody-based food
testing is the latest product launched specifically to trace contamination of
the industrial chemical melamine in milk products, according to its
manufacturer.
DNM says that the Delvotest MT testing kit is the first product it
offers a means for testing melamine, which was linked to a milk scandal that
rocked China
last year, leading to the hospitalisation and deaths of some consumers. Melamine is a chemical that can exaggerate protein content in a
product and has been linked to causing kidney stones and other health
problems. China concerns In reacting to concerns from its Chinese customers for improved
tracing for the industrial chemical, DSM
said that it has designed a quantative and sensitive means of ensuring
product safety. The manufacturer claims it has collaborated on developing highly
reactive antibodies that can recognise the presence of melamine
during screening, which will be launched on the Chinese market from next
month. “The easy-to-use test works through the recognition of melamine by
antibodies and requires less than one ml of the sample extract to determine
the product’s safety,” stated DSM. “The test can be
performed in less than an hour for maximum processing efficiency.” The company told DairyReporter.com that, while the product could be
used by manufacturers worldwide, DSM was currently focused solely on it
customers in China. According to a spokesperson for the group, the need to ensure product
safety in the country meant that product cost would not be a major factor for
manufacturers. Nonetheless, DSM said that it would work with manufacturers on
supporting and advising on safety testing within their operations. Looking beyond melamine testing, the manufacturer said that Delvotest
MT had been specifically developed for melamine, therefore additional
applications for contamination testing were not currently in its scope. Consumer confidence Safety fears following last year’s melamine scandal have continued to
impact on Chinese consumer’s preferences for dairy products. Back in November, analyst TNS said that in a survey of 1,600 Chinese
consumers, it found many buyers were more confident that larger dairy groups
like Arla Mengniu and Yili, which were both implicated in the scandal,
would recover from the incident than their smaller counterparts. At the peak of the scandal, the report suggests that over the space of
one week, consumer dairy sales plummeted by 54 per cent compared to the same
period the previous year. However, taking into account the fours weeks ending
3 October, purchases fell only by 18 per cent, according to TNS. Belying these falls, some multinational dairy producers were found to
be on the receiving end of an unexpected sales surge, which TNS says boosted
their marketing share in China’s dairy market. The country is widely seen as
an important strategic area for expansion. The share improvements occurred even with a hike in dairy prices and
infant milk by about 26 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. |
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