KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — Confectionary giant Cadbury’s Malaysian outfit scrambled to recall two batches of chocolate products found tainted with porcine DNA by the Health Ministry today.

In a statement, the company said it was informed that samples of its Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and the Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond that had been sent to the ministry had “tested positive for traces of porcine DNA”.

The halzelnut chocolate was from the batch number 200813M01H I2 and expires on November 13 this year, while the almond chocolate came from the batch number 221013N01R I1, expires on January 15 next year.

“We have taken immediate action by recalling the products from the above two batches.

“No other Cadbury chocolates are affected by this test,” the statement said.

The company also said it had embarked on a full review of its supply chain to make sure met the highest standards of safety and quality.

“We would like to reassure our consumers that all Cadbury Chocolates manufactured in Malaysia are halal-certified by JAKIM,” it added, referring to the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development by its Malay acronym, in a bid to calm its consumers in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

State news wire Bernama reported this evening that Jakim has suspended the halal certification of the two porcine-tainted Cadbury chocolate products.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause behind the product’s contamination,” its director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha was quoted saying.

Rumours of the porcine taint first cropped up on social media sites several days ago, prompting the Health Ministry to carry out an analysis.

Hours earlier today, the ministry announced it had detected pig DNA in two out of three batches of Cadbury chocolate samples sent for testing.

Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah cleared the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate sample as safe for Muslim consumption.

“The Health Ministry also advises the public to study the batch number on the product label before consumption,” Dr Noor Hisham was quoted saying by Bernama.

More information can be obtained at the ministry’s Food Safety and Quality Division website at http://fsq.moh.gov.my or www.facebook.com/bkkmhq.