New tests conducted by Malaysian authorities found that chocolate bars made by British confectioner Cadbury do not contain pig DNA, contrary to a previous finding, the country’s Islamic affairs agency said yesterday.
Cadbury withdrew two varieties of its chocolate snacks from sale in Muslim-majority Malaysia last week after government tests found traces of pork in them, leading some Islamic groups to call for a boycott of all of its products.
Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said none of the 11 samples it tested of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Hazelnut, Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond and other products from the company’s factory had shown positive results for porcine DNA.
Photo: Reuters
Jakim said in a statement that Cadbury’s halal certification for the two products would remain suspended pending further tests and investigations of its supply chain.
Jakim is the only body in Malaysia tasked with ensuring products are halal, or permissible by Islamic law. The previous tests were conducted in February by the country’s health ministry on products taken from store shelves.
NOT FAIR?
Jakim had said those tests might not have been fair to Cadbury since the products could have been contaminated after leaving the factory.
Cadbury Malaysia, whose parent firm is Mondelez International Inc, has stood by its products’ halal worthiness and assured the public it was working with authorities to resolve the matter.
A Muslim consumer group that last week called on Malaysians to boycott Mondelez products yesterday said it would not reverse its stance unless the health ministry concurs with the new results released by Jakim.
“There are still a lot of question marks there,” said Sheikh Abdul Kareem Khadaied, the head of research with the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia.
An official at the Malaysian Ministry of Health said that it “has handed the entire issue over to the Islamic agency.”
Following last week’s announcement that the chocolate bars tested positive for the non-halal ingredient, fellow Muslim countries Indonesia and Saudi Arabia said they were also carrying out tests on Cadbury products.
Saudi Arabia has withdrawn Cadbury chocolate bars from the market for tests to ensure the products do not contain traces of pig DNA, after the banned substance was detected in Malaysia.
PRECAUTION
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority said late on Saturday that the decision is only a precautionary move and involves testing samples of Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Almond Roast.
However, the statement said that the Cadbury chocolate sold in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom is not imported from Malaysia, but is produced locally or in Egypt.
“We do not have any proof [yet] that there are any traces of pork in the products sold in Saudi Arabia,” the food and drug authority said.
However, an investigation is underway to determine if any of the Cadbury products sold on the Saudi market were imported from Malaysia, it added.
Additional reporting by AFP
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