Updates on investigation into Li Chuan Fish Ball products

1. On 25 January, MUIS was alerted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Brunei Darussalam) of the discovery of porcine DNA in two (2) of Li Chuan Food Products Pte Ltd’s (“Li Chuan”) products – Li Chuan Fish Ball and Li Chuan Cuttlefish Ball in a sample routine testing. Li Chuan is a MUIS Halal certificate holder.

2. MUIS had immediately launched an investigation into this matter. This included conducting a thorough inspection of the production plant, retrieving samples of the same batch and sending the samples for testing in accredited laboratories. Concurrently, MUIS also requested Li Chuan to withdraw affected products from the Singapore market and halt overseas export of these products.

3. MUIS would like to update that the inspection of the plant found that all requirements of the MUIS halal management system were adhered to, and only approved ingredients were used in the food preparation. All the samples collected were tested by three different laboratories, including the National Centre for Food Science under the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). No traces for porcine DNA were found in any of the tests done.

4. In light of these findings, MUIS would like to assure consumers that Li Chuan products in Singapore meet the requirements of Halal certification, and we will be allowing the company to resume sales of the product in Singapore. MUIS will continue our regime of regular inspections of halal certified premises to ensure that certified establishments continue to uphold the necessary standards and requirements. MUIS has instructed Li Chuan to review its supply chain for exports and consult with the relevant authorities to ensure products exported comply with local requirements, before resuming exports.

5. MUIS will be engaging the Brunei authorities to seek clarification on their test results in this case. Moving forward, MUIS hopes to better coordinate with them on such investigations if future issues arise, to minimise public confusion.

6. MUIS would like to assure the community that we are fully committed in ensuring requirements for the dietary needs of the Muslim community continue to be met and thank the community for the understanding and patience in allowing us to investigate into this issue.

Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura