Cadbury issue: MOH should report the findings to Jakim first

Following the report on the pig Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) discovery in Cadbury products, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has urged the Health Ministry to report issues such as this to them first.

This was said by Jakim chairman, Datuk Othman Mustapha in an interview with Mingguan Malaysia.

He said Jakim and the ministry should have discussed the issue before making any announcement.

"The situation got out of hand when the ministry's test results leaked through social media on May 23. The power given to the laboratory is to make sure the ingredients in a product is similar to the one stated on the packaging.

"When the report of the pig DNA (porcine) was released, society did not look to the ministry but instead to Jakim, when in reality, we were not informed of the findings.

"On May 24, the Health director-general confirmed the findings and on the same day I had a meeting and decided to suspend the halal certifications of the two products until the investigation is completed," said Othman.

He added that the halal certification was given to Cadbury since 2004 and the company was last checked on Feb 20, where it was cleared that Cadbury adhered to the halal certification guidelines.

When asked why there was no coordination between Jakim and the ministry, he said the latter needs to answer that question.

"We just received the report on Thursday, and it was not complete. How are we supposed to do our work when we only knew about it on May 23?" he questioned.

The standard operation procedure (SOP) of halal certification by Jakim states that a company applying must do so through the e-halal system and declare all the ingredients.

The Chemistry Department will then conduct tests on all the products as it is the only department that is accredited by the Department of Standards Malaysia.

The halal certification manual also states that only tests by the Chemistry Department can be applied for halal certification prosecution.

"If a case is brought forward to the court, the government can use the test results by the Chemistry Department only. However, the ministry needs to refer to the Chemistry Department for tests," he said.

He added that the Cadbury sample taken by the ministry that showed pig DNA were samples from shops and should have been taken from the factory itself.

"Taking samples must follow strict guidelines. Only specific people appointed by Jakim can take samples and it must be from the factory, not from the streets or shops, we don’t know what happens out there," he said.

Othman expects the report by the Chemistry Department laboratory tests by Wednesday.

Last week, the Health Ministry had detected two samples of the Cadbury chocolate, namely the Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond which contained porcine.

The two products' halal certification was then suspended by Jakim and recalled by Cadbury immediately.