|
New Zealand: 17 March 2009, 17:15
Cerebos, manufacturer of BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken, wishes to clarify that the recently announced United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recall of Chicken Essence products sold in the USA was due to compliance issues with import regulations. Cerebos assures consumers that BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken range of products is safe for consumption and produced according to internationally recognized manufacturing and safety standards. In addition, this recall is only applicable to the USA and any other markets, including New Zealand, is not affected.
To ensure the interest of consumers and retailers, Cerebos will co-operate with the New Zealand authorities to follow up on this matter, if necessary.
According to the Recall Release dated March 12, 2009 issued by US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS-RC-009-2009): "FSIS has received no reports of illness as a result of consuming this product".
Since 2004, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has approved BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken range of products for import into US. The import license has been renewed on an annual basis since then and Cerebos was not requested to comply with the requirement of "approved source".
On 12 Mar 2009, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), also under the USDA, issued a recall release on grounds of non compliance to Federal regulations because the "chicken drink products do not meet poultry products inspection or poultry exemption requirements……The poultry ingredient is determined to be ineligible when the source of the ingredients cannot be determined." (FSIS-RC-009-2009)
Cerebos confirms that since 2004, the source of the poultry used in the manufacturing process of BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken range of products has not changed. We further confirm Cerebos sources poultry only from qualified suppliers which are approved by the relevant national authorities.
BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken range of products sold in New Zealand is produced in our own manufacturing facilities located in Thailand and conform to recognized international manufacturing and safety standards including ISO 9001:2000, ISO14001:2004, GMP and HACCP.
Apart from New Zealand, BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken range of products is also approved for import by various national food and health authorities including Australia, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Canada and Japan.
Consumer health and product safety is our top priority and we assure all customers and consumers that BRAND'S® range of products is safe and fit for consumption.
For further queries, please email or call the following:
Cynthia Tan
Cerebos Pacific Limited
Tel: +65 6212 0125
Email: ctsy@cerebos.com.sg
|
