MAJOR supermarkets and wholesale markets in Yangon stopped selling tainted brands of milk powder last week following a government announcement that nine out of 16 products tested by local health agencies had been found to contain melamine.

The New Light of Myanmar reported Friday that authorities had banned the import and distribution of nine dairy products found to be contaminated with melamine.

The ban came after the country’s food and drug watchdog destroyed 16 tonnes of imported baby formula and authorities urged people not use milk and dairy products because of the tainted milk scandal.

Testing by the Ministry of Health, Myanma Pharmaceutical Industries, Myanmar Pharmaceutical Factory (Yangon) and Development Centre for Pharmaceutical Technology under the Ministry of Industry-1 found the nine products to be “contaminated with melamine that is unfit for human consumption,” the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The list of products that showed traces of melamine contamination included Star Milk Powder (20g), Star (450g), Crown, Happy Baby Toys, Dulac (Dumex) Step 1 Infant Formula, Mandalay (raw milk powder), Two Cows Shi Lin (whole sweet milk powder), Rainbow and Enfagrow.

Daw Thet Wah Win, the marketing manager of City Mart supermarkets, said on Friday afternoon that melamine-tainted brands had already been cleared from their stores.

“We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that no tainted brands stay on our shelves,” she said.

Daw Chaw Hayman Htun, the manager of Sein Gay Har Supercentre in Dagon township, said all brands of milk powder were removed from store shelves after the government revealed the list of tainted brands on MRTV on Thursday evening.

“We are not selling any milk powder at this time. We have no such products stored in our warehouse so it will be easy to send them back to the manufacturers,” she said.

U Aung Kyaw Min, the vice supervisor of Nyaung Pin Lay wholesale market in Lanmadaw township, said the most popular brands at the market were Dumex, which appeared on the list of tainted brands, and Red Cow, which did not.