Probe on who leaked Cadbury info
Published on: Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Kuala Lumpur: The Health Ministry said Tuesday it does not rule out the possibility of contamination of the two samples of chocolate that it had tested positive for porcine DNA. Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the samples of the Cadbury chocolate were taken from shelves and not from the factory. "The result is still positive but the particular sample taken from the place that might possibly be contaminated cannot be ruled out.
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"We are not doubting the lab test but the sample was not taken from the factory," he said. Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry and the Department of Islamic Development of Malaysia (Jakim) would strengthen cooperation in monitoring and setting the benchmark certified by Standards Malaysia. The ministry issued a statement on May 24 saying that it had detected porcine DNA in samples of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond chocolate.Jakim said on Monday that two samples of similar chocolate it had obtained from the factory were free of porcine DNA.
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Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is investigating the officer responsible for leaking the initial report on porcine DNA tests on Cadbury chocolates, before a second test was done for verification.Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said a mistake happened because of the hastiness of an officer of the ministry to divulge the initial report, which caused consternation among the public.
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"A mistake was made by one of our own officers...so now we are running an internal investigation... and if we find the officer guilty, action will be taken against the person. "Jakim (the Malaysian Islamic Development Department) and the ministry did laboratory tests following the same procedures. The ministry has 15 laboratories to do such tests but the tests on the Cadbury chocolates were done at our lab in Sungai Buloh in early February before the report was leaked without any verification made," he said.He told this to reporters after opening the 22nd International Health Services Exhibition and Conference at the Sunway Convention Centre, here, Tuesday.He, however, ruled out the possibility of elements of sabotage in the leaking of the initial test report on social media.Dr Hilmi said in future, any decision on the halal status of a product would be handled by Jakim.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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