By Marcel Lee Pereira

WITH consumer confidence in China-made dairy products shattered, supermarkets here are beefing up their stock from alternative sources in anticipation of higher demand.

Shoppers are already switching to milk products from Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Japan, said a spokesman for Giant hypermarket. It has already seen a 5 to 20 per cent rise in sales of non-China products, though no specific brands were named.

Other chains like Cold Storage and Shop N Save said they would increase orders from sources such as Australia, the United States, Europe, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Last Friday, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) suspended the import and sale of all milk and dairy products from China, including milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolates, biscuits, sweets, and any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.

The authority has so far found melamine in three China-made products - White Rabbit Creamy Candies, Yili Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection and Dutch Lady strawberry-flavoured milk.

Retailers have complied, yanking these items off their shelves and offering refunds to those who have already bought them.

Ms Chong Nyet Chin, Fair-Price's director for food safety and quality, said the chain has removed more than 15 brands of milk products from its stores so far, and "will be vigilantly identifying and removing any other affected products".

It has also put up notices to inform customers about the recall, and training staff to handle queries.

Ms Chong added that Fair-Price has not seen significant changes in demand for products not sourced from China, but will stock its shelves with products from approved sources such as Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Lim Hock Chee, 48, managing director of local supermarket chain Sheng Siong Supermarket, said customers are told not to buy products if they are in doubt.

He added in Mandarin: 'We take the products off the shelf first, just in case. If they're tested safe we'll put them back.

Said Mr Lim: 'Singaporean consumers have reacted fast. We've had feedback from customers that they have stopped drinking milk made in China altogether, or switched to other brands.'

Parents who spoke to my paper yesterday said they would scrutinise food labels more carefully in future.

Sales manager Cheryl Yapp, 33, who has a six-month-old son, said the first thing she did when the melamine scandal broke was to check the sources of her baby's milk powder.

'Fortunately, they were reputable brands, and not from China,' she added.\

Meanwhile, both KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) and the National University Hospital said they have each seen one case of worried parents bringing their child for a checkup, but no melamine case was confirmed.

Dr Chong Chia Yin, head and senior consultant at KKH's Department of Paediatric Medicine, advised parents who are concerned that they or their children may be at risk to consult their family physician, or a private paediatrician.

Consumers who have any queries can call AVA's hotline on 6325-7625 during office hours from 8.30am to 6pm on weekdays.

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