KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 ― Cadbury Malaysia today reassured consumers all of its products are halal and safe for consumption, after Islamic authorities cleared two of the confectioner’s products previously reported to contain traces of porcine DNA.
Raja Zalina Raja Safran, the company's head of corporate affairs said that Cadbury is “delighted” with Jakim's findings based on their latest laboratory tests.
“We assure our customers and consumers that all our products are properly labelled and consumers can enjoy them with confidence,” she said in a statement to The Malay Mail Online.
Cadbury said it has yet to receive Malaysian Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) official report on the matter, but insisted the company's manufacturing process met the agency’s halal regulations.
Earlier today Datuk Seri Dr Jamil Khir Baharom, the minister in charge of Islamic religious affairs, said 11 samples of the confectionary giant’s Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and the Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond were sent straight from the factory to a special accredited laboratory for testing.
“Pig DNA was not found in the samples,” he told reporters.
Cadbury’s Malaysian outfit had scrambled to recall two batches of chocolate products found tainted with porcine DNA by the Health Ministry last Saturday.
But Jamil Khir said that the tests conducted by the Health Ministry could have been flawed as the samples were not brought in directly from Cadbury’s factory.
The minister also said that Jakim will now review its earlier suspension of the halal status of the two Cadbury chocolate products following the findings of the latest results.
He added that Jakim will soon hold a briefing for all affected parties to avoid any further “misunderstanding” on the matter.
More than 20 Malay-Muslim groups have called for a nationwide boycott on all Cadbury products, saying that a holy war needs to be waged against the confectionary giant for attempting to “weaken” Muslims in Malaysia.
Rumours of the porcine taint first cropped up on social media sites two weeks ago, prompting the Health Ministry to carry out an analysis.
