BANGI, June 2 — The two batches of Cadbury chocolate products previously found tainted with porcine DNA have now been declared halal for Muslim consumption, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) announced 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 here.
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 today that the tests conducted by the Health Ministry could have been flawed as the samples were not brought in directly from Cadbury’s factory.
There was a possibility that the previous sample testing could have been “contaminated”, resulting in porcine DNA being detected, he added.
The minister also said that Jakim will now review its earlier halal suspension 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.
