Channel NewsAsia - Saturday,
July 21
And the Rabbit is
White again
The taint of formaldehyde has been washed off White Rabbit Creamy
Candy as tests done here revealed that those sold in Singapore are
safe for consumption.
The tests were conducted by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority
(AVA) on Wednesday after four products were withdrawn by the
Philippines' Food and Drug Agency for possible formaldehyde
contamination. The products are White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Milk
Candy, Balron Grape Biscuits and Yong Kang Foods Grape
Biscuits.
Formaldehyde is a cancer-causing chemical that is not permitted for
use as a food additive. It is also used in resin production and is
well-known as a preservative and embalming fluid.
Of the products, only the White Rabbit Creamy Candy is imported
into Singapore. However, AVA also conducted tests on Bairong Grape
Biscuits as it sounds similar to Balron, which is banned in the
Philippines.
AVA's tests indicate that there were minute amounts of formaldehyde
in the samples of both products tested. However, it noted that
formaldehyde occurs naturally at low levels in a wide range of
foods.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a Tolerable
Daily Intake (TDI) of 0.15 mg per kg body weight for formaldehyde.
Based on this, normal consumption of the White Rabbit Creamy Candy
and Bairong Grape Biscuits that AVA tested would not pose a health
risk, it added.
"The presence of the minute amounts of formaldehyde could be due to
its natural occurrence in the ingredients used for making the
products," said AVA in a statement on Friday. "There is no evidence
to suggest that formaldehyde was added to the products as a
preservative. "
Some 275,000 kg of White Rabbit Creamy Candy and 269,000 kg of
Bairong Grape Biscuits were imported into Singapore last
year.
For more information, call AVA's hotline at 1800-226 2250.
