By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The recent melamine scare has made consumers wary of snacks, chocolate, instant coffee and creamers.
Kwon Sang-jin, a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul, has decided to quit drinking instant coffee, shocked by the spreading melamine crisis. He used to habitually drink four cups of instant coffee every day.
``I feel so terrible about the toxic chemical found in instant coffee. I used to drink a lot but now I'm trying to change my habit to drink other kinds of beverages like tea,'' Kwon said.
As the chemical has been found in some snacks and coffee creamer products that use Chinese milk powder, more and more like Kwon are becoming extra careful over what they eat.
Authorities pledged to secure food safety amid rising concerns over melamine-contaminated food products imported from China. But most citizens feel unrelieved and skeptical about its measures.
``I simply try to avoid buying products that contain substances from China and I rather try to make snacks for my children at home,'' a 39-year-old housewife Jang Kyung-mi said. ``I used to take it for granted to trust big companies' products but I was wrong. And it has become much harder to choose what to buy for my family.''
The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) has so far confirmed melamine contamination in ``Misarang Custard'' sold by Haitai Confectionary, ``Milk Rusk'' biscuits by J&J International imported from Hong Kong and Yuchang F.C.'s coffee creamer. It has ordered all the melamine-tainted products to be taken off the shelves and banned the distribution and marketing of 304 dairy products imported from China until it completes a thorough examination.
The KFDA attempted to ease concerns over food safety, saying locally circulated products tainted by melamine may not be a serious threat to people's health due to their small concentration.
But anxiety is growing out of into distrust of all the products imported from China.
``I decided not to buy products if they contain any substances imported from China,'' said Kim Jung-eun, a 30-year-old office worker. ``Having seen various scandals about Chinese food tainted by harmful substances made me distrust all the products from China. How can they do such a horrible thing? But what's sad is it's hard to live without products imported from China.''