Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority & Ministry of Health Joint Press Release on the Recall of Bonsoy Soy Milk

06 Jan 2010

Background

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has issued an alert on the recall of a soy milk product, Bonsoy Soy Milk (1 Litre), due to the presence of unusually high levels of iodine in this product, which has been linked to cases of Thyrotoxicosis.

2. The Bonsoy soy milk product has been enriched with “Kombu”, a seaweed product, which naturally contains high levels of iodine. Soy milk is not known to be a source of iodine, hence consumers of soy milk would not associate this type of product with high iodine levels.

3. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has conducted tests on the similar Bonsoy soy milk products that have been imported into Singapore and confirmed similarly high levels (32.6ppm) of iodine in these products. AVA has therefore required the importer and retailers to recall the implicated product from the market.

Product information

4. The product recalled is as follows:

Product description: Bonsoy Soy Milk

Implicated batch: All dates up to and including best before 03 November 2011

Packaging type: Tetra Pack

Package size: 1 Litre

APN/EAN/TUN Number: 9312336049037

Country of origin: Japan

Health Advisory for consumers

5. Excessive consumption of high levels of iodine may affect the thyroid gland, leading to thyroid disorders. It is strongly advised that individuals who have consumed the above product and feel unwell should seek medical attention immediately. All pregnant women who have consumed BonSoy Soy Milk should inform their obstetrician so that the appropriate tests can be conducted for their babies at birth.

Consumer Enquiries

6. Members of the public who have bought the affected product(s) should not consume them and should either discard or return these products to their original retailers.

7. Consumers can call AVA’s hotline at 6325 7625 for product-related queries. For health-related queries, consumers can call MOH’s hotline at 1800-225 4122.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority, Ministry of the National Development

Ministry of Health

6 January 2010