KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 06, 2008): The White Rabbit Creamy Candy seized for tests by the Health Ministry recently has been found to contain melamine exceeding the country's standard of 2.5 parts per million for adults and 1 part per million for children.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the candy, a product imported from China, was found to contain 135ppm of melamine.

He said the state health departments, the importer of the candy and retailers have been told to destroy the product.

"We will take action against those who fail to comply with the warning under the Food Act," he told reporters after visiting the National Health Laboratory here.

Liow said the cheese powder used by Pizza Hut Taiwan had been tested to be melamine negative as the cheese was made in New Zealand and the locally-produced creamer, one of the ingredients used to make the cheese powder, was tested negative.

He said until today, the ministry has sealed a total of 2,719 suspected items worth RM683,703.88 and collected a total of 775 food products for testing.

"We have tested 64 products and are all within the melamine standard approved by the ministry," he said.

Liow also announced that the ministry had asked its National Health Laboratory, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaya to help the Chemistry Department conduct melamine test on the food products seized.

"Each test will take two days to complete and I am very satisfied with the commitment of our staff in testing the products. We are trying to set up more laboratories in Johor, Ipoh and Kota Kinabalu to test suspected products."

Liow said vegetables and fruits imported from China are still held at level four alert following news reports from Korea on Friday (Oct 4) that they might also be melamine contaminated.

He said although the vegetables and fruits are at level four alert, they are still allowed to be sold in the market and if they are tested positive for melamine, the supply will be immediately stopped. Dairy products placed at level five alert are sealed until a test is conducted.

For more information on melamine, the ministry's Food Safety and Quality Division can be contacted at 03-88833655/88833503/88833652/88833500 from 8am
to 9pm daily or visit http://fsq.moh.gov.my.

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