Saudi has begun testing Cadbury chocolates from the local market amid revelations in Malaysia that products contained traces of pig DNA, it was reported.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) said it had collected samples of Cadbury chocolates as a precautionary measure, despite deputy executive chairman for food sector, Dr Salah Al Maiman, saying it imported its products from Egypt and UK, the Saudi Gazette reported.
Cadbury Malaysia, a part of the British multinational owned by Mondelez International, said it was withdrawing the Cadbury Dairy Milk hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk roast almond products after traces of pig DNA were found during a routine check for non-halal substances.
The revelation has prompted some Muslim groups in Malaysia to call for a boycott of all Cadbury products.
Al Maiman said the SFDA would take all necessary measures if lab analyses proved that the samples contained any traces of pig DNA.
He called on consumers to report to SFDA if they found Cadbury cow milk chocolate with hazelnuts bearing the operation number 200813M01HI2 and registered with the expiry date 13/11/2014 as well as Cadbury cow milk chocolate with roasted almonds bearing the operation number 221013N01RI1 and registered with the expiry date 15/1/2015.
Indonesian authorities said on Friday they were testing products made by Cadbury to check they complied with Islamic standards.
“After such an incident, it is prudent to do a test on the other variants to see if they also have traces of the pig DNA. We may have the result in a few days,” Roy Alexander Sparingga, head of Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency, told Reuters.
Malaysian Islamic authorities said it remained unclear if the contamination was the company’s fault.
“People need to understand that we can’t immediately take action against Cadbury when there’s no solid evidence yet or if contamination occurred in the factory itself or if it was external factors,” said Othman Mustapha, the director general of Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development, or JAKIM, was quoted as saying.
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