KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- Tests conducted on food products of Ayamas Food Corporation Sdn Bhd (Ayamas) revealed that they do not contain the antibiotic Chloramphenicol, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said today.
He told the Dewan Rakyat that the tests were conducted by the ministry's Food Security Division on 15 samples of food products taken from the company's plant and 16 samples from the market.
"The laboratory tests showed that there was no Chloramphenicol in the products. If there were, we would have acted immediately to remove the products from the market,," he said when winding up debate on the Supply Bill 2013.
Liow said the ministry had been monitoring Ayamas products since 2009 and found that they did not contain the antibiotic.
The media had reported last Thursday that the Sarawak government imposed an immediate import ban on products from the company after a test showed up the antibiotic.
On another matter, Liow said the ministry did not encourage individual consumption of stevia on a daily basis because the sweetness was 200 to 300 times more than sugar.
The ministry did not prohibit the people from consuming stevia, he said, but advised that they should do so with monitoring by doctors or food specialists.
The use of stevia in food processing was allowed because the level of sweetness was tightly controlled, he said.
The house will sit again on Nov 19 after a week-long break for the Deepavali (Nov 13) and Awal Muharram (Nov 15) holidays.
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