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Fonterra has reported an increase in demand from Asia for its milk powder products after the recent melamine contamination crisis in China, the ABC reports.
Fonterra's Chinese joint venture Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co, was the first of a number of Chinese companies found selling infant formula contaminated with the organic compound melamine.
The contamination was recorded in Sanlu milkpowder at levels as high as 2500mg/kg of infant formula - equivalent to about 350 parts per million when the powder is reconstituted.
Four babies have died and tens of thousands have been made ill by the products.
Fonterra Australia's managing director Bruce Donnison said the company had had numerous enquires from Asian buyers seeking an alternative supply of milk powder.
Separate to its Sanlu investment, Fonterra has been the biggest foreign exporter of milkpowder to China for nearly 20 years.
It has recalled only one batch of its own branded products, some Anmum Materna milkpowder for pregnant women, which was made with Sanlu milk.
Some of the overseas companies selling imported milkpowders have promised not to raise prices to take advantage of the domestic troubles.
- NZPA
