Cadbury: Our chocolates are halal

Cadbury Malaysia believes that there is no porcine or pork-related ingredient in its chocolates.

"We stand by our halal certification and we have the highest levels of product labelling standard," it said in a statement here today.

Cadbury Malaysia said it would continue to be in positive consultation with the authorities, as it was waiting for the analysis from the Health Ministry on the products that had been detected to contain pig DNA and the supply chains associated with those products.

"We are encouraged by the positive actions of the National Fatwa Council which is working with consumers to help build an understanding that Cadbury products are suitable for consumption and maintain the halal status," it said.

Cadbury Malaysia said it would remain committed in adhering to the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) regulatory guidelines, as prescribed in the Manual Procedure of Halal Certification Malaysia.

The company said it understood how critical halal was to its consumers and to the ongoing trust in its products.

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 pig DNA (porcine).

However, yesterday the National Fatwa Council announced that the original decision on the Cadbury product which was confirmed as 'halal' before it was claimed to contain the pig DNA had been maintained and the product could be consumed by Muslims.

The chairman of the Committee of the National Fatwa Council, Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said it was included in the category 'Umum al-Balwa', a rampant problem which was difficult to avoid.