Guangzhou Uncle Mark Trading Co., Ltd. was confiscated illegal income of 85,491.36 yuan and fined 519,022.08 yuan by Guangzhou Tianhe District Market Supervision Bureau for failing the test of iron and zinc content of one batch of its infant jasmine brown rice flour, according to information from the official website of the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau on May 27.
According to a previous report of the General Administration of Market Supervision of China, the infant jasmine brown rice noodles imported by Guangzhou Uncle Mark Trading Co., Ltd., Guangdong Province and produced by Homey (Thailand) Co., Ltd. [original flavor, 225 grams (25 grams × 9 sachets)/can, 2020/5/12, country of origin: Thailand], the detected iron content is 0.826mg/100kJ, which exceeds the standard maximum limit of 0.5mg/100kJ, and the product label indicates the value is 0.38mg/100kJ; zinc content detected is 0.66mg/100kJ, which exceeds the standard maximum limit of 0.46mg/100kJ, while the product label indicates that the value is 0.21mg/100kJ. Uncle Mark Trading Company once raised objections to the inspection results and applied for re-inspection, but the re-inspection maintained the initial inspection conclusion.
According to the General Administration, the “National Food Safety Standard Cereal Supplementary Foods for Infants and Young Children” (GB 10769—2010) stipulates that the iron content in cereal supplementary foods for infants and young children should be within the range of 0.25mg/100kJ-0.5mg/100kJ, and the zinc content should be within the range of 0.17mg/100kJ-0.46mg/100kJ. The detected values of iron and zinc in the unqualified samples exceeded the upper limit prescribed by the national food safety standards of China. The reason for the excessive iron and zinc content in cereal supplements for infants and young children may be that the food nutrition fortifiers used in raw materials do not meet the quality requirements, or the company may not add them according to the production process requirements, or may be related to uneven mixing during the production and processing of the product.
Official information shows that the founder of Uncle Mark has been engaged in the infant industry in the United States, and then returned to Thailand to run the family health food industry. The factory was established in 1988 to specialize in the production of complementary foods for infants and young children. Guangzhou Uncle Mark Trading Co., Ltd. was established in 2018. Its main business includes infant complementary food, instant porridge, instant cereal flour, and healthy snack food.
In December 2020, the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau issued a verification and disposal notice for the same batch of Uncle Mark unqualified rice noodles. The notification showed that the original iron and zinc items of the original infant jasmine brown rice noodles commissioned by Guangzhou Uncle Mark Trading Co., Ltd. were unqualified. The product specification was 225 grams (25 grams × 9 packets)/can, and the production date was May 12, 2020. A total of 6312 cans failed the test, 6192 of which had been sold, the remaining 120 cans were sealed, and the company recalled the sold substandard food.
In addition, according to the information of food and cosmetics not allowed to enter the country in October 2020 published by the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the General Administration of Customs of China, 1 batch (405kg) Uncle Mark infant jasmine brown rice noodle (carrot, tomato, water cabbage flavor), 1 batch (32kg) Uncle Mark infant jasmine brown rice noodle (original taste), and 1 batch (405kg) Uncle Mark infant mixed grain rice noodles (jasmine brown rice, quinoa, banana, pumpkin-flavored) imported from Thailand by Guangzhou Uncle Mark Trading Co., Ltd. and produced by HOMEY (Thailand)Co., Ltd. were all refused entry by Chinese customs because of excessive numbers of bacterial colonies.
Source: Beijing News, etc.