Director: Ministry identifying batch of tainted soya sauce

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Tan (centre) together with Zaidi (second right) and other KPDNKK and health Department personnel at the press conference in Kuching.

KUCHING: The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) is currently in the process of identifying and seizing a specific batch of the tainted salty soya sauce (‘Kicap Masin’) under the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia brand in the state.

According to the ministry’s state director Datuk Stanley Tan, the tainted batch shows an expiry date of Aug 15, 2017.

Currently only two bottles of the sauce have been identified, both in Limbang where samples of the tainted sauce were discovered by officers from the state Health Department last month.

Results from chemist tests for the tainted batch, he revealed, showed that the sauce contained 1,020 parts per million of Benzoic Acid – a common ingredient for food fermentation.

He said the approved level for Benzoic Acid in food was set at 1,000 parts per million.

“These tainted batches have actually exceeded the approved level by 20 parts per million, which is a relatively small amount. However, health and quality control is our priority,” Tan told a press conference at the state KPDNKK headquarters here yesterday.

He advised consumers not to panic as the tainted sauce was specific only to that particular batch.

The Health Department, he added, had also conducted tests on other batches of the same product and on other KR1M sauce brands such as their sweet sauce and other food products which produced satisfactory results.

He further said the ministry had also given the orders for all 30 KR1M outlets in the state to remove all KR1M Kicap Masin from their shelves last Friday for quarantine and further inspections.

He explained this was to ensure that consumers would not lose their confidence in KR1M outlets as the ministry wanted them to be regarded as outlets that sell products of high quality and comply with all safety and health standards.

“We must also remember the objective of KR1M which is to provide an avenue for every Malaysian to shop confidently and buy household items which cost less by 10 per cent to 50 per cent as compared to other shops,” he said.

Others present at the press conference included health Department officer Zaidi Ujang, who said samples of the tainted batch were taken in Limbang and sent to the Chemistry Department in Bintulu for tests on April 30.

As the tainted sauce exceeded the approved level of Benzoic Acid by only a fraction, he assured it was very unlikely that it would pose harm to the human digestive system.

“Nevertheless, the manufacturer had violated the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985 and all the necessary steps must be taken,” he added.

He also said this was the first case where a tainted product sold under the KR1M brand had been discovered in Sarawak.