KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has urged the Health Ministry to be more considerate towards the plight of local biscuit producers in the light of the melamine scare and uncertain economy.

Dr Chua, who is the party's government policy monitoring bureau chief, said major producers representing the RM2.5 billion biscuit industry had expressed to him their frustration at the ministry.

These include the ministry's slow lab results and red tape involved in issuing clearance letters to certify that the biscuits are safe.

"Importing countries now want a letter of analysis of the biscuits and letters from the government that guarantee the safety of the product.

"Their problem with the ministry is that there are five labs which take two weeks to test their products. Because time is of the essence for businesses, many producers have sent their products to be tested in Singapore, where it only takes two days to get the results.

"However, the Health Ministry here does not accept these results."

Because of the delays caused by the Malaysian labs and the ministry's hesitance in backing up local producers, Dr Chua said demand had been reduced significantly.

"Last week, the 'big boys' (public- listed biscuit producers) told me the export market which used to be RM600 million a year, has dropped by 50 per cent. Local consumption, which used to be worth RM1.5 billion to RM2 billion a year, has also dropped by 40 per cent."

Coupled with the uncertain global economy, Dr Chua said that many producers were afraid they might not be able to finance the loans they had taken.

"Therefore, I suggest that the ministry accept the analysis done by Singapore. The companies which do their testing in Singapore can issue a letter of guarantee to the ministry stating they are fully responsible for the quality of the products.

"The ministry should not hesitate to announce their names should the results be proven untrue. Based on this trust, the ministry should issue a clearance letter for the producer. I think this is fair."

He said the ministry should also educate the public about melamine so that consumers can make informed choices and not live under constant and unfounded fear.

"Melamine in biscuits is different from melamine in milk. In China, they intentionally added the chemical to increase the protein count in milk. Using nitrogen as a measurement, milk from China contained 2,000 parts per million (ppm) of melamine.

"But melamine in biscuits is a contaminant from the raw materials imported from China, not an intentional ingredient. Human tolerance for melamine is high.

"If someone weighs 15kg, he can tolerate up to 9.5g of melamine daily. But to reach that level, he would have to eat 32 servings of biscuits a day. Who eats that many biscuits a day?"