11 Taiwan food products recalled

11 Taiwan food products recalled

A total of 11 starch-based food products from Taiwan have been taken off shop shelves after they tested positive for maleic acid, an unapproved food additive.

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said yesterday that most of the affected products are tapioca starch balls used in the preparation of bubble-tea beverages.

The products include Hong brand tapioca starch, Ting Long tapioca pearls and Sun Chi brand noodles.

AVA said it has informed the importers of the affected products to "withdraw them from sale immediately and withdrawal has been completed". Consumers who have bought these products should either return them to the retailer or discard them.

Last week, AVA said that Sunright brand tapioca balls have been recalled as it was found by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration to have traces of maleic acid.

AVA said it then conducted tests on 66 other similar food products from Taiwan, and maleic acid was present in 11 of them. Long-term consumption of high levels of maleic acid can cause kidney damage, it said.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Where Singapore gets it's food from..

Courtesy of TNP

Green tea may protect against Parkinson's disease

Green tea may protect against Parkinson's disease

Researchers at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine have identified an activation process between a component in green tea and a protein in the human body that can provide cellular protection against Parkinson's disease.

Called EGCG, the green tea component is also found in red wine, and it triggers AMP kinase, a protein in the body, to help prevent brain cells from dying under stress.

The researchers experimented on engineered fruit flies which had developed Parkinson's, a progressive and degenerative neurological disease.

The team found that EGCG-treated flies exhibit much better movement ability and show significant preservation of their brain neurons, compared to untreated flies.

In three to five years' time, the researchers will move from experimenting on fruit flies to experimenting on mice as well as brain cells from patients with Parkinson's disease.

The team hopes to partner with pharmaceutical companies to formulate a drug which can be administered to Parkinson's disease patients.

Associate Professor Lim Kah Leong from the school's Department of Physiology says current treatment for Parkinson's is usually in the form of a drug known as L-DOPA, which only offers symptomatic therapy.

The potential medication would offer neuro-protection.

Associate Professor Lim said: "Whilst they can actually improve the symptom, current medication cannot stop, cannot reverse the degeneration process. Hence it's important to come up with something that can offer real protection to the brain cells from dying.

"There are benefits of drinking green tea but in this case we have something even more potent than drinking green tea. So hopefully medication centred around AMPK activation can provide real and faster benefit to Parkinson's patients than green tea could at that stage."

Associate Professor Lim added that if a drug were to be developed, it would target patients with early-stage Parkinson's disease to protect their brain cells from further damage.

The study is supported by the Singapore Millennium Foundation, National Medical Research Council and A*STAR Biomedical Research Council. About S$200,000 was put into the project.

～News courtesy of Channel Newsasia～

Caramel colouring is safe, says Coca-Cola

Caramel colouring is safe, says Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Singapore has come forward to "set the record straight", by affirming that the caramel colouring in its beverage is safe.

"The caramel colour in all of our products has been, is and always will be safe," a Coca-Cola Singapore spokesman said in a press statement yesterday.

The spokesman said its caramel manufacturers have been asked to "modify their production process to reduce the amount of 4-MEI in the caramel" and that the changes "will not affect the colour or taste of Coca-Cola".

The statement follows recent reports in the United States that Coca-Cola and Pepsi will reduce the amount of 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) in the caramel colouring used to produce their beverages.

In doing so, they are complying with an updated requirement set by California's Proposition 65, which aims to protect state residents from "chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals".

By modifying the production process, Coca-Cola and Pepsi will avoid having to put cancer- warning labels on product packages.

"Regulators throughout the world, including Singapore's Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), have approved the use of the caramel found in our products," said the Coca-Cola Singapore spokesman.

AVA confirmed yesterday that "caramel is a permitted colouring in Singapore".

~News courtesy of Omy~

Bean sprouts source of killer E.coli outbreak

Bean sprouts source of killer E.coli outbreak

Germany on Friday blamed sprouts for a bacteria outbreak that has left at least 30 dead and some 3,000 ill, and cost farmers across Europe hundreds of millions in lost sales.

"It's the sprouts," the president of the Robert Koch Institute, Reinhard Burger, told a news conference on the outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) in northern Germany.

"People who ate sprouts were found to be nine times more likely to have bloody diarrhoea or other signs of EHEC infection than those who did not," he said, citing a study of more than 100 people who fell ill after dining in restaurants.

As a result, the government lifted a warning against eating raw tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers.

The advisory, first issued over two weeks ago, has cost vegetable growers in Europe hundreds of millions of euros in lost sales and sparked diplomatic spats across Europe.

German authorities had initially fingered cucumbers imported from Spain as the origin of the outbreak. But they later retracted the statement based on subsequent tests, infuriating Madrid and sparking threats of lawsuits.

And the European Union blasted Russia for imposing a "disproportionate" blanket ban on vegetable imports from the 27-nation bloc.

In an attempt to help hard-hit farmers, the EU has offered to pay out 210 million euros (US$303 million) in compensation.

The origin of the contamination is believed to be a small organic farm in Lower Saxony which first came under suspicion at the weekend, Burger said.

"Tests carried out at the farm have proved negative", but evidence still pointed to the farm as a probable source of contamination, he added.

"Thousands of tests carried out on tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce have proved negative. But there are ever more signs of a link between people contaminated and a farm" growing a variety of sprouts, a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"The links are ever clearer. It's a hot lead," he said.

Lower Saxony agriculture minister Gert Lindemann said earlier this week that experts had found no traces of the E. coli bacteria strain at the farm but he did not rule it out as the source of the contamination.

In an interview to be published in next week's edition of Focus magazine, Lindemann said some 60 of the people contaminated had eaten sprouts from the small farm in Bienenbuettel which employs about 15 people.

Contamination might have been caused by infected seeds or "poor hygiene", he added.

Three of the farm's employees also fell ill last month, suffering from diarrhoea, he said.

The outbreak is believed to have started at the beginning of May, with the first people falling ill in the second week of May, the Robert Koch Institute said.

To date, more than 2,800 people have fallen ill in Germany, it added although other estimates have put the number higher.

People in at least 14 countries were sickened by the outbreak, most of them having recently visited northern Germany where over 75 percent of the cases have been registered, most of them among women.

At least 30 people have also died, according to regional authorities, all but one in Germany. A woman who had visited Germany died in Sweden.

"The number of new infections is declining," Burger told the news conference Friday following announcements of a drop in cases earlier this week.

But he warned that the "outbreak is not yet over", saying that some people were still falling ill after being contaminated several days ago.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Seized eggs are genuine

Seized eggs are genuine

A test conducted by the state Veterinary Department on 270 eggs seized from the Pulau Tikus market has found them to be genuine.

State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Commit­tee chairman Phee Boon Poh said, however, he was still waiting for a second opinion from the Health Ministry.

“The ministry, which seized another 108 eggs from the market, is expected to reveal its findings.

“Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is expected to hold a press conference on Monday,” he said here yesterday.

The eggs, which were carted away by the authorities on Thursday, were sent for analysis at the state Veterinary Department and the ministry’s Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya.

The eggs were seized following complaints by a housewife and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) that fake eggs were being sold at the market.

Thanking CAP for highlighting the issue, Phee said the Penang Consumer Watch Group in all the 40 state constituencies were also on the lookout for fake eggs.

“They will alert us if they come across anything suspicious. The public can also lodge an official complaint with us so that we can take action,” he said.

In Ipoh, Deputy Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said those who suspected that they had bought fake eggs should immediately notify the ministry for it to investigate.

“There are millions of eggs in the market and it is impossible for us to seize them all,” she told reporters after a dialogue with the Perak Sundry Shops Guild.

She said ministry enforcement officers had been directed to monitor all those selling eggs.

In Kota Kinabalu, state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said the state was keeping a close watch on the possibility of fake eggs surfacing in the local market.

~News courtesy of The Star~

A test conducted by the state Veterinary Department on 270 eggs seized from the Pulau Tikus market has found them to be genuine.

State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Commit­tee chairman Phee Boon Poh said, however, he was still waiting for a second opinion from the Health Ministry.

“The ministry, which seized another 108 eggs from the market, is expected to reveal its findings.

“Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is expected to hold a press conference on Monday,” he said here yesterday.

The eggs, which were carted away by the authorities on Thursday, were sent for analysis at the state Veterinary Department and the ministry’s Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya.

The eggs were seized following complaints by a housewife and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) that fake eggs were being sold at the market.

Thanking CAP for highlighting the issue, Phee said the Penang Consumer Watch Group in all the 40 state constituencies were also on the lookout for fake eggs.

“They will alert us if they come across anything suspicious. The public can also lodge an official complaint with us so that we can take action,” he said.

In Ipoh, Deputy Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said those who suspected that they had bought fake eggs should immediately notify the ministry for it to investigate.

“There are millions of eggs in the market and it is impossible for us to seize them all,” she told reporters after a dialogue with the Perak Sundry Shops Guild.

She said ministry enforcement officers had been directed to monitor all those selling eggs.

In Kota Kinabalu, state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said the state was keeping a close watch on the possibility of fake eggs surfacing in the local market.

~News courtesy of The Star~

A test conducted by the state Veterinary Department on 270 eggs seized from the Pulau Tikus market has found them to be genuine.

State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Commit­tee chairman Phee Boon Poh said, however, he was still waiting for a second opinion from the Health Ministry.

“The ministry, which seized another 108 eggs from the market, is expected to reveal its findings.

“Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is expected to hold a press conference on Monday,” he said here yesterday.

The eggs, which were carted away by the authorities on Thursday, were sent for analysis at the state Veterinary Department and the ministry’s Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya.

The eggs were seized following complaints by a housewife and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) that fake eggs were being sold at the market.

Thanking CAP for highlighting the issue, Phee said the Penang Consumer Watch Group in all the 40 state constituencies were also on the lookout for fake eggs.

“They will alert us if they come across anything suspicious. The public can also lodge an official complaint with us so that we can take action,” he said.

In Ipoh, Deputy Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said those who suspected that they had bought fake eggs should immediately notify the ministry for it to investigate.

“There are millions of eggs in the market and it is impossible for us to seize them all,” she told reporters after a dialogue with the Perak Sundry Shops Guild.

She said ministry enforcement officers had been directed to monitor all those selling eggs.

In Kota Kinabalu, state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said the state was keeping a close watch on the possibility of fake eggs surfacing in the local market.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Egg-streme deception

Egg-streme deception

FAKE eggs, which are allegedly full of chemicals, have been found in Penang.

A housewife who bought a tray of 30 eggs for RM11 in a market has complained to the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) that they were fake.

CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the housewife brought the eggs to the association’s office on Jalan Mesjid Negeri yesterday morning after finding something fishy about them when she tried to cook them.

“She said the eggs did not smell like real eggs and were tasteless.

“They had unusual shapes and were larger than real eggs. The fake egg also had a rougher surface than the genuine one.

“When broken, there were no signs of the chalazae which is the opaque ropes of egg white that hold the egg yolk in the centre of the egg. The fake egg white and egg yolk quickly mixed together unlike those of genuine eggs,” Idris told a press conference yesterday.
The fake egg yolk is of a darker yellowish hue.

He said they found that the yolk of the fake egg was more yellowish than the real one when they cooked one of the fake eggs to find out the difference.

Idris said an e-mail circulated in the Internet had stated that fake eggs were common in China and were full of chemicals.

“According to the e-mail, the shell is made of calcium carbonate while the yolk and egg white are made of sodium alginate, alum, gelatin, benzoic acid and calcium chloride besides water and food colouring.

“Calcium chloride may cause liver diseases while benzoic acid can be harmful to the brain and nerve cells,” he said.

Asked how consumers can differentiate fake eggs from genuine ones, Idris said it would be very hard to do so as they looked almost the same.

“Try to look out for the weird shapes,” he said, adding that CAP staff went to buy eggs from the shop where the woman had bought the fake ones and the staff found the eggs were indeed fake.

He said CAP would write complaint letters to the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority to urge them to carry out investigations.

The ministry’s Penang enforcement division head M. Guna Selan said his office had not received any complaints of fake eggs so far.

“I will check with CAP first on the details of the complaint before deciding on the next course of action,” he said.

The content of the circulated e-mail was found through a Google search.

It stated that various ingredients, including an unknown powder and alum, are mixed together to make the egg white.

For egg yolk, some lemon- yellow colouring powder is mixed to a liquid and stirred.

The liquid is then poured into a round-shaped plastic mould and mixed with so-called ‘magic water’, which contains calcium chloride.

Hardy shells are formed by pouring paraffin wax and a liquid onto the concoction which are then left to dry.

-News courtesy of The Star-