SHAH ALAM – The Health Ministry orders the recall of Jif peanut butter products over fears of Salmonella contamination.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the move was made following United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) ordered the products with batch numbers 1274425 to 2140425, namely with 425 at the last three digits, to be recalled because they were contaminated.
The product was exported to Canada, Thailand, Honduras, Spain, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, among others.
"The Health Ministry is aware of the product recall from the US market through notification received from International Food Safety Authorities Networks.
"Based on our checks on Malaysia Food Safety Information System data, it is confirmed that the Jif peanut butter products were imported into the country.
Hence, we have ordered the company responsible for importing the products to recall the batch from the market,” he said in a statement.
The Health Ministry’s Security and Food Quality team also monitored the country’s entrances to ensure the products did not enter the country.
"Sellers should stop selling the products with the batch number immediately while consumers who have bought the product should not consume them,”
Salmonella is a type of bacteria which can cause food poisoning if found in processed or raw food if the processing procedure is unsanitary.
Consumers may contact the nearest district health office through their website at http://moh.spab.gov.my or through the health ministry’s food safety and quality division’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bkkmhq regarding this issue.