PETALING JAYA: Only one of the 18 dried plum and prune products that were said to have high lead content is sold locally, claimed Malaysia Foodstuffs and Toys Merchants' Association.

The association said the remaining 17 brands were only sold in the United States.

"The Health Ministry should emulate the Department of Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore and collect samples of products from the local market first upon receiving the information on the said contaminated items from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," said the association in a statement yesterday.

It said the authority should only issue a statement on the matter after conducting laboratory tests to verify lead contents in any particular brand or packing.

The AVA of Singapore was said to have made a sample testing of the market and confirmed that all dried plum or prune products sold in the republic conformed to safety standards.

The Health Ministry on Oct 8 had issued a statement restricting the sale of 18 types of dried plum and prune from China, Taiwan and other Asian countries after high degrees of lead was detected.

The ministry's monitoring of the products began after a US FDA report on Oct 1 alerted consumers over the dried fruit sold by the 15 manufacturers due to lead contamination.

When contacted, Food Safety and Quality Division director Noraini Mohd Othman said the division was still conducting tests on the products and was constantly carrying out checks in the local market.

"Nothing is concluded yet and when we are ready, we will issue a statement," she said, stressing that none of the products were banned but were taken for testing upon entering the country. -The Star/Asia News Network