Health Ministry orders recall of starfresh, water funs bottled water

Noor Hisham Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry has ordered the Starfresh and Water Funs bottled drinking water to be taken off the shelves after they were found to be contaminated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, commonly found in faeces, water, soil and sewage.

The ministry has also temporarily suspended the licence of the manufacturer’s plant effective June 28.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Food Safety and Quality Division’s inspections at the factory found that food safety assurance programmes were not implemented effectively.

“The processing and production activities for commercial purposes are strictly prohibited and the factory has been ordered to carry out corrective action during the suspension of the licence,” he said in a statement here today.

Earlier, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) was reported to have ordered a recall of Starfresh bottled water after they were found to be contaminated by the same bacteria, involving the 500ml and 1500ml bottles with expiry dates of May 11, 2021, and May 13, 2021, respectively.

Dr Noor Hisham said the analysis carried out on the Starfresh brand exported to Singapore and the Water Funs brand sold in the local market found that both brands did not comply with the Food Act 1983 and the Food Regulations 1985.

He said the factory would also voluntarily recall other brands it produced, including Iceberg, Sukahati, Ro Fina, Dixy Green and Dixy Blue.

--BERNAMA