Many are reporting they have been food poisoned in the latest soy milk food safety scandal. Popular soy milk company, Bonsoy, is facing some hefty charges – $25 million to be exact! – over 500 cases of food poisoning around the country. This payout is believed to be one of the biggest pay outs in the history of Australian food safety.
Between the period of 2004 and 2009, an estimated of 500 people consumed the soy milk that had dangerously high levels of iodine. This was due to an alleged reformulation of the soy milk in 2003, where pure kombu (seaweed) was replaced with kombu powder, which had the effect of increasing the level of iodine. Effectively, this meant one glass of milk contained 50 times the recommended daily intake of iodine.
What does this mean for Australian soy milk food safety now?
The whole industry will keep their eyes on the court proceedings! The Supreme Court was to approve the pay out yesterday and victims will receive their compensation over the course of the next six months. But it is not only the soy milk industry that should keep their eyes open, it goes out as a warning to all food producers. It reconfirms that the class action system is available to consumers to assert their rights if something does go wrong in the production process.
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