SINGAPORE - Samples of a recalled brand of durian white coffee from Malaysia have passed food safety tests by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and can be sold in Singapore again.
AVA had recalled Malaysia's Coffee Tree MyCafe 4-in-1 Penang Durian White Coffee products on Feb 3 as a precautionary measure, following reports of consumers in Penang being hospitalised after drinking the beverage.
AVA said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Feb 28) that all samples of the recalled product passed its food safety tests.
It also said that Malaysian authorities told AVA that the product implicated in the Penang incident was found to be tampered with.
"There was no evidence to suggest that the main product line was contaminated," AVA said.
AVA released the recalled products back to the importer on Wednesday, and the importer is free to sell it or pass it on to retailers for sale with immediate effect.
Samples of the instant coffee mixture were detected with a substance believed to be drugs, Malaysian police said.
George Town police chief Anuar Omar told The Star in a report on Feb 2 that samples were taken to the state food safety and quality laboratory for tests after a medical officer lodged a police report following the incident.
Malaysian media reported that five patients received treatment at Penang Hospital between Jan 27 and 30 after drinking the coffee.
They were reportedly admitted with "severe fatigue".
The coffee brand said in a statement on Facebook on Feb 6 that police investigations showed that coffee sachets had been tampered with and were distributed to the public for free in a coffee shop in Penang.
"We would like to clarify that we have never authorised any person or group to distribute coffee sachets for free on our behalf in Malaysia," said MyCafe Marketing and Trading.
"We urge the person involved in giving out the free tampered coffee sachets to give full cooperation to the police."
It added that the tampering of coffee sachets was "an act of sabotage against MyCafe".
It thanked the police for their prompt action and said it was giving its fullest cooperation to the authorities in solving the case.
