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29 March 2024

Chocolates batch recalled in Malaysia not in UAE

Published
By Vicky Kapur

British confectioner Cadbury and its Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods) have reassured UAE residents that their chocolate products recalled in Malaysia due to concerns about traces of pork in them are not imported to the UAE.

“Cadbury Malaysia, a subsidiary of Mondelēz International, would like to reassure consumers that it is extremely focused on resolving the concerns that led to the proactive and voluntary recall of two batches of Cadbury Dairy Milk products in Malaysia. These products are not imported to the UAE from Malaysia,” the firm said in an e-mailed statement to Emirates 24|7.

Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods) is the maker of food and beverage brands including Tang, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Tolberone and Oreo biscuits. Mondelēz International has been operational in the GCC for nearly 100 years with key manufacturing facilities in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Cadbury withdrew some chocolate bars from sale in Malaysia last week after government tests said they found traces of pork in them, leading some Islamic groups to call for a boycott on all of the firm’s products.

However, according to a Reuters report quoting Malaysia’s Islamic affairs agency, new tests conducted by Malaysian authorities found that two varieties of chocolate made by British confectioner Cadbury do not contain the said traces, contrary to a previous finding.

“Cadbury Malaysia and its parent company, Mondelez International, understand and respect how critical halal is to Muslim consumers and how important this is to ongoing trust in our products,” the firm said in its statement to this website.

Authorities in a number of other countries across the world, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are undertaking their own independent tests after news about pork traces being found in two of Cadbury’s chocolate products in Malaysia broke out last week.

“Although Cadbury Malaysia proactively and voluntarily recalled the products, it has no reason to believe that there is any porcine or pork-related ingredient in its Cadbury chocolates. It stands by its halal certification from the government of Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department, or Jakim, and has the highest levels of product-labelling standards,” the statement concluded.