KL must get to the bottom of Cadbury case

THE recent furore over porcine DNA detected in two Cadbury products in Malaysia provides an object lesson of the perils of rushing to judgment on superficial evidence. Every intending investor would be justified in pondering the potential for ruin despite being innocent. Indeed, this case has all the hallmarks of industrial sabotage.

On May 24, Malaysia's Health Ministry warned that substances forbidden to Muslims (non-halal) were found in Cadbury Dairy Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond chocolate bars. In a statement issued to the mass media, the ministry's top official, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said tests had been conducted the previous day following allegations on social media that confectionery tainted by porcine DNA was on sale to Muslims. He confirmed that samples of two types of chocolates (out of three analysed) had tested positive for porcine DNA. The manufacturer, Cadbury Confectionery Malaysia, immediately recalled these products from the market and launched an investigation on its supply chain.

Malaysian Muslims were outraged on hearing the news and 20 Malay-Muslim groups called for a total boycott of all Cadbury products. Some radicals even threatened to burn down the factory. For a week, it looked as if the company, a pioneer in Malaysia's industrialisation, would be better off closing down.