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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The tests were conducted by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) on Wednesday after four products were withdrawn by the Philippines' Food and Drug Agency for possible formaldehyde contamination.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.
- TODAY/so
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