Company to take legal action against those claiming its calamari rings are made of pig rectums
PETALING JAYA: A frozen foods supplier has refuted claims that frozen calamari rings were purportedly made of pig rectums, saying that they are ready to take legal action against those who spread such information.
The Star’s Malay language portal, mStar reported that Shen Hua Resources chief executive officer Rodney Soon said the spread of such misinformation had harmed the company’s reputation and sales nationwide.
“We found that two people had spread fake information regarding our frozen calamari rings, claiming that it was not halal as it was made from pig rectums,” said Soon.
“This caused panic among the public which affected our image and caused our company to endure losses,” he added during a press conference on Wednesday (March 9).
He said that upon consulting with their lawyers, they would be suing those who spread the rumours.
Soon also urged the authorities to investigate this under the Communications and Multimedia Act (AKM) 1998, adding that a report will be made to the Public Complaints Bureau of the Prime Minister’s Department.
“We are, however, disappointed that results of samples taken by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry have yet to be released,” added Soon.
“Despite that, we are ready to cooperate with the authorities and prepare more information regarding the product,” he said.
Also present during the press conference were Shandong Halal Certification Service (SHC) in Malaysia chief representative Datuk Dr Abd Aziz, Shen Hua Resources director Koh Sing Yee and Khor Beng Teck & Son Fisheries Sdn Bhd manager Alicia Khor.
It is understood that both Soon and Khor had made police reports on allegations towards their products.
Commenting on the issue, Aziz defended the product and said the best way to resolve this was by putting the product through lab tests.
Recently, a message went viral, claiming that frozen calamari rings sold in supermarkets are pig rectums.
It claimed that actual calamari has black spots while pig rectums are all white.