KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― The Ministry of Health is attempting to identify the party who leaked a preliminary report of Cadbury Malaysia’s chocolates that triggered the controversy over a now-disproven claim of porcine DNA contamination

Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said the early report was released prematurely by the source and before the findings could be corroborated, news portal Malaysiakini reported today.

He also urged the public to refer to Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) as the final arbiter on the issuer; Jakim yesterday cleared the confectioner of any such contamination.

“The public should trust Jakim's report,” the minister told reporters at a health conference in Sunway.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry said it will work closely with Jakim to monitor food products and set a common benchmark when testing them.

Ministry director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this on his Facebook account in response to Jakim’s halal declaration yesterday of two Cadbury chocolate products which were earlier believed to be tainted with porcine DNA.

Hisham said the ministry was still investigating the cause of the contamination detected.

The controversy exploded over two weeks ago when Health Ministry announced that it detected pig DNA in samples taken from Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Hazelnut and Dairy Milk Roast Almond products already out in the market, sparking an uproar among Muslim groups.

Yesterday, Jakim pointed out the Health Ministry’s samples were not taken directly from Cadbury’s factory, suggesting that this resulted in possible contamination and flawed test results.

Over 20 Malay-Muslim groups previously called for a nationwide boycott on all Cadbury products, saying that a holy war needs to be waged against the confectionary giant for allegedly attempting to “weaken” Muslims in Malaysia.

Yesterday, Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) insisted it will continue its boycott of all products by Cadbury Malaysia and Kraft Foods Manufacturing Malaysia until the Health Ministry issues an apology for its May 24 announcement.