|
|
|
|
|
| January 11, 2001 | atimes.com | ||
|
|
Southeast Asia
Wahid gives Ajinomoto seal of approval JAKARTA - President Abdurrahman Wahid has been reported as saying that PT Ajinomoto Indonesia's contentious seasoning product contained no substances extracted from pigs, and was therefore quite "halal", or appropriate for consumption by Muslims. "President Abdurrahman Wahid has said the Ajinomoto taste enhancer is halal," said presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar after President Wahid had received Japan's Minister of Justice at the Merdeka Palace. According to Wimar, President Wahid based his statement on the findings of research conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology and a number of higher learning institutes. Asked about the legal process against a number of Ajinomoto's directors, who are now being detained by the police, Wimar said that it would continue. "But, of course, the legal process should take the results of the latest research into consideration," Wimar said. The government earlier last week ordered the withdrawal of all Ajinomoto food taste enhancers from the market because they had been found to contain frocine, an enzyme extracted from pork, which Muslims are forbidden to consume. Starting on Friday, government agencies with the help of police mounted operations to withdraw the commodity from all markets in the country which has the biggest Muslim population in the world. PT Ajinomoto Indonesia, the producer, has apologized to Indonesian consumers for using material prohibited by Islam in the production process of its food taste enhancer. (Asia Pulse) |
|||||||||
|
|
|
Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive |
|
back to the top ©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. |
