SHANGHAI: US food-maker H.J. Heinz Co said on Tuesday it will tighten controls over ingredients suppliers in China after it was forced to recall some infant food products from Chinese store shelves due to excess levels of lead.

The company, known globally for its ketchup and baked beans, made the announcement as it sought to contain the potential damage to its reputation in a country where consumers are highly sensitive to food safety after a series of high-profile scares.

Heinz told Reuters on Monday that it had recalled four batches of its AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal for infants after a food watchdog in eastern China found levels of the toxic heavy metal above regulation standards.

Supply chains issues in China have come under increased scrutiny, with KFC-parent Yum Brands Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and McDonald’s Corp all recently facing food safety issues with suppliers.

Consumers in China are especially sensitive to baby products after powdered milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine led to the deaths of at least six infants in 2008.

“I would think that Heinz is in a lot of trouble right now because parents are unforgiving of any quality control problems in baby and infant food products,” said Shaun Rein, Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group.

Heinz will draft stricter systems for regulating ingredient suppliers and improve traceability and food safety control measures along its supply chain, the US Company said in a post on its official Sina Weibo microblog on Tuesday.

Affected products had been sealed and would be destroyed under regulator guidance, it added.

An official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Zhejiang province declined to give details on the levels of lead in the Heinz cereal, but said that it would release further information about the case in the coming days. Standard levels for infant products should be below 0.2 milligrams per kg, according to a 2010 government report.

Heinz, which was bought out by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc and private equity firm 3G Capital last year, said the recall was a precautionary measure.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014