KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry’s Food Safety and Quality Department (BKKM) is looking into allegations that Malaysian biscuits contain large amounts of carcinogens.
This comes after 60 biscuit brands in the Hong Kong market were accused of containing these harmful substances, including Hup Seng, Jacobs and Julie’s, which are manufactured here.
“BKMM is aware of Choice Magazine’s publication in the Hong Kong Consumer Council’s website relating to the monitoring of 60 flour confectionery brands, including biscuits that are sold in Hong Kong.
“Among those listed include Hup Seng, Jacobs and Julie’s, which are produced in Malaysia,” BMKK said in a statement.
BKKM explained that food manufacturers in Malaysia must implement Food Safety Guarantees such as the Industry Certification Scheme for Food Safety, Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), and others as stated in Regulation 9 under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009.
“Based on initial investigations, BKMM finds the factory premises holds HACCP certification.
“BKMM is also conducting verifications on the premises to supervise the matter,” BKMM said.
Meanwhile, as for claims that biscuit products contain false nutritional information, BKMM explained that manufacturers are allowed to declare food labels via analysis or calculation.
Similarly, BKMM said it will also look into claims of false nutritional information on biscuit packaging.
On October 18, the Hong Kong Consumer Council tested 60 samples of pre-packaged biscuits in the market and found genotoxic carcinogens such as glycidol and acrylamide.
Similarly, when 57 samples were tested, 23 were found to have discrepancies in their actual nutrient contents.
The most severe account of mislabelling revealed a sample of crackers containing saturated fatty acids 76 times the amount on the label. – The Vibes, October 22, 2021
