PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) has suspended the halal certification of two Cadbury chocolate products that were found to contain porcine DNA.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause
behind the product’s contamination,” said Jakim director-general Datuk
Othman Mustapha in a statement Saturday.
Earlier Saturday, the Health Ministry had confirmed that porcine DNA
was found in Cadbury Dairy Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond,
following a rumour on social media alleging the products contained
non-halal elements.
The samples from two types of chocolate out of three analysed tested positive for porcine DNA.
They were Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut, with batch number 200813M01H
I2 that expires on Nov 13, 2014 and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond,
with batch number 221013N01R I1, that expires on Jan 15, 2015.
The third sample of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate did not contain any non-halal element.
However, Othman said the latest periodical checks on the product
manufacturer on Feb 20 has shown that the products complied with halal's
certification standard after going through a stringent procedure.
“We would like to emphasise that the halal certification process
involves rigorous auditing and inspection which includes an assessment
of the ingredients, processing methods and equipment used.
“This process is based on Malaysian Halal standards and Malaysian
Halal certification manual procedures. After the halal certificate is
released, the certificate holder is bound to these periodical checks,”
he explained.
He also assured the public not to be too worried with the use of “halal” logo as the department conducts constant monitoring.
“If there is any breach or non-compliance with the certification
requirements, Jakim will suspend or revoke their halal certification
immediately,” said Othman.