Oren Shanghai Yang Diimpot Disyaki Guna Lilin Beracun

Kementerian siasat buah oren Shanghai

Disyaki diwarna guna lilin beracun

KUALA LUMPUR: Kementerian Kesihatan sedang menjalankan siasatan bagi memastikan oren dari Shanghai, China yang dipercayai diwarnakan dengan bahan lilin beracun supaya kelihatan lebih segar, tidak diimport atau berada di pasaran negara.

Kementerian dalam kenyataannya berkata, tindakan itu diambil berikutan pihak berkuasa Shanghai mengeluarkan arahan kepada peniaga buah-buahan menghentikan penjualan oren itu selepas menerima aduan pengguna yang mendapati kulitnya menjadi merah selepas disentuh.

Berdasarkan Peraturan 21 di bawah Peraturan-Peraturan Makanan 1985, pewarna yang dibenarkan dalam makanan adalah yang tersenarai di dalam Jadual Tujuh (Pewarna Yang Dibenarkan) dan penggunaan bahan pewarna selain dari yang tersenarai itu dilarang.

Kata kenyataan itu, Peraturan 225(2) dan (3) di bawah Peraturan-Peraturan Makanan 1985 memperuntukkan buah-buahan mentah dan segar boleh mengandungi bahan pewarna yang dibenarkan bagi tujuan penggredan.

“Lilin bergred makanan boleh digunakan bagi membersihkan dan menyediakan buah-buahan mentah untuk jualan,” kata kenyataan itu.

Kenyataan itu turut menasihatkan orang ramai yang mengesyaki buah oren dijual di pasaran tempatan mempunyai bahan pewarna itu agar segera melaporkannya kepada Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah atau Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri untuk tindakan lanjut.

Selain itu, orang ramai boleh mendapatkan maklumat mengenai kegiatan kawalan keselamatan dan kualiti makanan dijalankan kementerian menerusi laman web http:/fsq-.moh.gov.my.

Shanghai halts sale of suspected 'dyed' oranges

SHANGHAI: Shanghai authorities have ordered fruit vendors to stop selling oranges that have allegedly been dyed with a toxic wax, Chinese media said Friday, in the country's latest food safety scare.

The Shanghai government has ordered tests on the oranges after consumers complained their skin was turning red after coming in contact with oranges sold in local markets, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

Industrial dyes can damage people's memory, immune systems and cause
respiratory problems, the newspaper said.

"Tissue (paper) turns red when you wipe them and if you hold the oranges in your palm, it will turn red," a consumer surnamed Hu told the newspaper.

An unnamed seller at a wholesale agricultural products market told the newspaper that some oranges had been dyed with a toxic industrial wax so "they look fresher and sell at higher prices".

Shanghai authorities have ordered sellers to pull the oranges off their shelves and are conducting tests, the report said.

It was unclear whether the oranges were dyed by sellers in the city or producers in Jiangxi province in eastern China, the report said.

The Chinese government has come under increasing pressure from its citizens as well as countries such as the United States and Japan to improve the standard of its food and medicines.

In a scandal in 2008, at least six children died and around 300,000 fell sick after consuming milk powder laced with the industrial chemical melamine, which was added to make products appear higher in protein.-AFP/wk