Prima Food starts trial production under AVA supervision
By Chio Su-Mei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 December 2007 1954 hrs

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SINGAPORE: More than three weeks after Prima Food was ordered to shut down, the factory started its trial production Friday.

The entire process was conducted under the supervision of officers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to ensure that Prima Food complied with manufacturing and hygiene practices.

The products tested Friday were the Hazelnut Indulgence, Chocolate Truffle, Truffle Divine and fresh cream cakes.

Food samples were also taken at every step of the operation for testing at the AVA's Veterinary Public Health Centre.

Preliminary test results should be released within the next two to three days. If necessary, more tests will be run to confirm the preliminary findings.

The Prima Food factory was ordered to close down earlier this month after a food poisoning outbreak that affected over 200 people, who fell ill after consuming PrimaDeli products.

Checks by the AVA had shown that the food poisoning was caused by the salmonella bacteria, which was detected in cake samples at its factory between 20 November and 1 December. - CNA/ac