.JPG "Perak Health exco A. Sivanesan speaks during a press conference at the Ipoh Parade September 21, 2018. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Farhan Najib")
IPOH, Sept 21 ― The producer of Kingfisher beer, which is among three brands of alcohol blamed for causing the deaths of 21 people in the past week, must come clean on the drink’s content, Perak Health Committee chairman A. Sivanesan said
“To date, the company has yet to explain why methanol is found in their product despite deaths occurring after drinking it,” he said today, pointing out that it was the number one selling brand in India and sold in 52 countries worldwide.
He told reporters after opening a public health awareness campaign at Ipoh Parade here, the alcohol content in beer was normally between four per cent and six per cent.
“But in the beer seized by authorities, it contained 41 per cent methanol instead,” he said, demanding an explanation from the company.
On Thursday, Sivanesan said two men died while three others were admitted into Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun for suspected methanol poisoning after consuming Kingfisher beer.
Sivanesan said today that in the past 24 hours, no new cases have been reported in any of the state’s 14 hospitals.
“The three admitted patients, two of them in Intensive Care Units, are recuperating,” he said.
Perak police, meanwhile, have so far arrested two men for selling the liquor in Perak.
Besides Kingfisher beer, the other alcoholic beverages authorities identified in the deaths in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Perak are Grand Royal Whisky and Mandalay Whisky.
