Health Ministry bans maleic acid

Health Ministry bans two more Taiwan products for maleic acid

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PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has detected two more food products from Taiwan which contained maleic acid. The products are Tapioca Pearls manufactured by La Kaffa International Co. Limited and Taiwan QQ Balls manufactured by Woei Perng Enterprise Co. Limited. The ministry's Food Safety and Quality Division senior director, Noraini Mohd Othman, said the ministry had instructed the importers of the two products, Loob Holdings Sdn Bhd and Happy Grass Marketing Sdn Bhd, to withdraw the products from the market in the country and dispose them safely.

"The industry is advised not to use the products, while consumers who had purchased the products are advised not to consume the products, but to return them to the seller or dispose them safely. "However, those who have consumed the products need not to worry as irregular consumption of a very small amount of maleic acid will not affect their health," she said in a statement here. She said a total of 155 product samples, including tapioca balls and tapioca pearls, dried noodles and tapioca starch in local markets, had been analysed for maleic acid so far.

Noraini said there was another product reported to have contained maleic acid, that is Tapioca Pearls (Roselle) manufactured by Shui Yan She Co. Ltd in Taiwan, but the product was not imported by any Malaysian company. "As a precautionary measure, the ministry has suspended the import of the product," she said, adding that the suspension of imports had been imposed on 23 other products so far. She said the ministry would continue to monitor food products from Taiwan and the public need not worry about the safety of other products imported from the country. Further information can be obtained by contacting the ministry's Food Safety and Quality Division at 03-888 33652 or 03-888 33653 or its website at http://fsq.moh.gov.my. - Bernama