KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry's Food Safety and Quality division is currently obtaining further information from Thailand regarding sausages that contained harmful levels of nitrite, a type of preservative.
In a statement today, Food Safety and Quality division senior director Mohd Salim Dulatti said as of date, a total of 207 manufactured meat products, including sausages, had been tested for nitrite content levels following Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report.
"Analysis report showed that all 207 manufactured meat samples collected, both local and imported, found to be complying with the prescribed level, which is not exceeding 80mg/kg, in line with the Codex international standards.
"Health Ministry is currently seeking more information from the Thai embassy regarding the sausage products involved," he said in a statement today.
Sodium nitrite is used to speed up the curing of meat and also to impart an attractive colour.
Nitrite intake at an excessive rate can cause a person to quickly feel tired, difficulty in breathing, dizziness and headache, and palpitations.
It was reported that 22 out of 44 sausages sampled tested by Thailand FDA contained higher-than-permitted levels of nitrite.
Thailand FDA had started the testing after the Ramathibodi Poison Centre reported that 14 children had been hospitalised with methemoglobinemia – a blood disorder caused by ingesting nitrite – after eating sausages that had no FDA approval stamp.