The owners of Munchee Lemon Puff, one of Sri Lanka’s best known biscuit brands, this week said tests undertaken on behalf of the Health Ministry showed the product was free of melamine, and cast doubts over news reports that first raised concerns that the biscuit was contaminated.
The Ministry of Health, in a statement issued at a Muchee press conference, had confirmed that the test results of the random market samples taken by them and sent to the Health Science Authority of the Ministry of Health in Singapore have been received and that Munchee Lemon Puff had been confirmed as completely free of melamine. It further stated that the product has been removed from the list of prohibited items.
Earlier Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (CBL), makers of the Munchee and Ritzbury biscuits ranges, had recalled the biscuit from local retail shops in the wake of an ‘alleged’ announcement by Swiss authorities that they had discovered trace elements of toxic chemical, melamine in Munchee Lemon Puff biscuits which resulted in the product’s withdrawal from Swiss shelves. News agencies including the BBC and AP had reported the ‘announcement.’
CBL cast serious doubts over the ‘announcement’ but The Sunday Times FT, in independent checks, has evidence through the Swiss Embassy in Colombo and Health authorities there that the Sri Lankan biscuit was taken off the shelves in Switzerland after it was found to have traces of melamine, even though the quantity was said to be insufficient to be injurious to human health. Health authorities here had also been informed by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health of their findings through tests that had been carried out.
During the briefing, when questioned about the impact of the product recall on local and international sales, company officials noted that there was ‘a small sales impact’ in Sri Lanka but not abroad. They further indicated that they continued to do well in the approximately 40 international markets in which Munchee Lemon Puff biscuits are sold, in fact remarking that international orders received recently had actually increased. They also went on to observe that Munchee Lemon Puff biscuits had not been pulled off the shelves in EU.
CBL Group Managing Director, Lakshman de Silva, did indicate however that key Munchee products had also been tested, including Cream Crackers, Super Cream Crackers, Hawaiian Cookies, Marie, Tikiri Marie and Milk Shortcake, and found to be ‘melamine free’. This is a list of products which accounts for “more than 90% of our production”, Mr. de Silva added. |
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