Shanghai company denies poisonous formaldehyde in its famous creamy candy
19/7/2007 16:52
A Shanghai food company has denied that its famous "White Rabbit" creamy
candy contains the poisonous chemical substance formaldehyde, as claimed by
Philippine food authorities. Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan (Group) Company Limited
said in a statement issued yesterday that the company had carried out testings
on the candy after it heard the news and had sent samples to the city's
authoritative testing institution for further tests. The company said no
preservative had ever been used in the production of the "White Rabbit" creamy
candy. Formaldehyde, a known cancer causing agent, can be used as preservative
or disinfectant. A report posted Monday on www. gmanews.tv, a news Website of
Philippine GMA television said the country's Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD)
found that the "White Rabbit" creamy candy and three other food products from
China contained formaldehyde "after inspecting for more than two weeks over 600
food products that the Philippines imported from China". The Website said the
agency would "advise consumers to refrain from buying such goods until these are
proven safe". Guan Sheng Yuan said it had asked for the testing report and
candy samples from the BFAD through Philippine distributors, but so far received
no response. The statement said it was "extremely irresponsible for the BFAD
to release the testing report before the product was identified by its
producer". Guang Sheng Yuan said fake "White Rabbit" candy products were
rampant in recent years both in home and abroad, due to the worldwide influence
of the famous brand. Shanghai's quality and technical supervision authorities
said Wednesday they are to investigate into the case and make the results known
to the public as soon as possible. Three other products allegedly found to be
tainted with formaldehyde are a brand of milk candy made by a company in
Jinjiang city, east China's Fujian Province, two grape biscuits produced by
different companies based in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. No response is
currently available from the producers of the three companies.
Xinhua
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