CER defends Abbott milk powder test result

CER Research, a Hong Kong-based corporate research company, Sunday reaffirmed its previous finding that an infant formula product of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) was tested with substandard results, and refuted allegations by the US milk company that CER had fabricated experts' comments on the results.

The CER report said that ABT milk powder product sample in certain key areas failed to meet both international and Chinese national standards according to laboratory tests and expert comments.

China requires infant formula to have a minimum whey to casein protein ratio of at least 60 percent, but based on the food testing by German laboratory Muva Kempten in Allgau, Abbott Similac Stage 1 product sold in Hong Kong failed to meet the standard by a wide margin with a higher ratio of casein protein.

High intake of casein protein has been shown to cause intestinal bleeding, malnutrition, diarrhea and kidney stress in infants, said CER's report which also cited comments on the result from six experts.

Responding to the report, ABT said in a statement Saturday that since the tested milk power was neither produced nor sold in the Chinese mainland, it's unavoidable that it has different standards with Chinese criteria.

Noting that the report is misleading and damaging to ABT's reputation, the statement also said that three of the six experts interviewed by CER revealed that they had not given any comments on CER's findings and had asked to withdraw their names from the report.

Graham Earnshaw, CER Research's CEO, told the Global Times yesterday that all the interviews of these experts were conducted on record, and insisted that the experts have not denied making the remarks to CER Research.

"To our knowledge, none of the experts has denied making the remarks or denied that CER Research spoke to them on the topic of milk powder. There is an important distinction to be made between withdrawing remarks and denying them," he said.

ABT together with other three foreign brands - Enfamil, Wyeth and Dumex - took up 70 percent of the Chinese high-end milk powder market share in 2010, according to Finance Today, a business news portal in China.

The milk company's total revenues for 2011 in the mainland are estimated at $950 million to $1.1 billion, based on CER Research's investigation.

Chen Haowen, a research manager of chemicals, materials and food practice with market research firm Frost & Sullivan, told the Global Times that the food safety scandal would affect ABT's reputation in China where its baby formula products are fairly popular.

"If the report is proven to be true, it will definitely hurt ABT's market share in China. And it will probably prompt a reevaluation over foreign milk products which have been greatly favored by Chinese consumers after the 2008 melamine scandal," Chen said.

Fan Zhihong, a food safety expert at China Agricultural University, told the Global Times that casein protein can not be easily digested by infants whose digestive system is still fragile and ABT is not the first brand found to have problems in the country, though some Chinese consumers still have a blind faith in foreign brands.