AMMAN - The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) on Thursday reassured citizens that the Kingdom is free of the Similac-brand powdered infant formulas that were recently recalled in some countries due to suspicions of contamination.
"We want to assure the public that the infant formula under suspicion has not entered the Kingdom," said Layla Jarrar, who heads the JFDA drug department.
She noted that the Similac powdered infant formulas available in the local market are manufactured in Ireland, while the contaminated products were manufactured in another country.
"Even if we import from the manufacturing source, we do not allow any products to enter the Kingdom without being tested," Jarrar noted.
Abbott, the manufacturing company, announced a voluntary recall of certain Similac-brand powdered infant formulas in the US, Puerto Rico, Guam and some countries in the Caribbean.
"Abbott is recalling these products following an internal quality review, which detected the remote possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product produced in one production area in a single manufacturing facility," the company said on its website.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immediate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing the beetles or their larvae, could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the gastrointestinal tract.
The US FDA added that the possibility of contamination was discovered during an internal quality review conducted earlier this month at Abbott's Sturgis, Michigan, plant.
The recall of these infant formulas include certain Similac powdered product lines offered in plastic containers and in cans of different sizes.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia said it would ban and withdraw plastic and metallic cans of Similac powdered infant formula for possibly containing beetles and their larvae, Reuters reported.
© Jordan Times 2010
