Lab Tests Show Milk Is Free of Contamination : Lucky to Resume Selling Its Brand After State Clearance

Final tests show no pesticide residue in Lady Lee brand milk, and the product is expected to be back on store shelves today, a state Department of Food and Agriculture spokeswoman said Monday.

About 230 Lucky supermarkets across Southern California and in Las Vegas pulled cartons of the milk off their shelves Sunday after a private laboratory reported finding residue from the agricultural pesticide diazinon in some milk samples, Judy A. Decker, spokeswoman for Lucky stores, said.

However, state tests showed the lab’s results were a “false positive,” state spokeswoman Tina Taggart said.

While the tests were being conducted, Lucky continued to keep gallons, half-gallons, quarts and pints of pasteurized milk dated May 10 and 11 off its shelves, along with gallons, half-gallons and quarts of low-fat milk dated May 11, Decker said.

She added that the action was not a recall but a precautionary measure.

“We do not believe there is anything wrong with the product, but we wanted to take this precautionary measure until all test results are completed,” Decker said earlier.

No Reports of Illness

She added that there were no reports of illness from the milk in question.

Traces of diazinon, used as an insecticide, were found in initial tests by a private lab hired by one of the dairy cooperatives that provides milk to the Buena Park processing plant.

The original testing was done as a matter of routine and not because tampering or contamination was suspected, Decker said.

In late March, Lucky recalled its ice cream products from 463 Lucky and Gemco supermarkets in California, Nevada and Arizona because glass fragments were found in some of the containers.

Lucky stores resumed production after state investigators concluded that glass could not have entered the ice cream, ice milk and sherbet products during the manufacturing process.

Decker said the ice cream incident had “nothing to do with” the inspection of milk samples.

The FBI is checking into the earlier incident, bureau spokesman Fred Reagan said Monday.

He declined to elaborate, saying that the investigation is continuing.