Muffins here safe to eat: Singapore's BreadTalk
Singapore’s BreadTalk raisin muffins are safe for consumption, the local bakery chain said on Monday, after Hong Kong paper Apple Daily earlier reported that elevated levels of aluminum were found in the raisin muffins there.
The paper commissioned the Hong Kong Standards and Testing Centre to test 10 different bread items from five bakeries in the city.
It found that all four of the muffins tested contained aluminum, with BreadTalk’s containing exceptionally high levels -- 306ppm of aluminum, which means one muffin contains 27mg of aluminum.
Responding to Yahoo Singapore’s query on whether local consumers are affected by the finding, BreadTalk said in a statement that they have sent their muffins to an independent laboratory for testing, which found that the muffins are safe for consumption.
A large accumulation of aluminum in the body affects the functioning of the nerves, liver and kidneys. It may lead to osteoporosis, and will even hinder the development of internal organs of children, as well as their brain and intellectual development, the report said.
The presence of aluminum in bread is usually due to the baking powder used.
Some brands of baking powder contain food additives with aluminum, such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulphate and sodium aluminum phosphate, which help bread rise.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that a person takes in up to 2mg of aluminum per kg of body weight per week.
This means that for someone who weighs 50kg, consuming four of such Hong Kong’s BreadTalk muffins, which add up to 108mg of aluminum, would exceed the recommended upper limit.
In the report, a BreadTalk spokesperson was reported to have said that they have been trying to improve the situation by trying baking powder from different suppliers.
In the statement, BreadTalk also said the high aluminum level in the Hong Kong BreadTalk muffins was an isolated incident, caused by “staff inadvertence where a higher than stipulated amount of baking powder was used in the production”.
They have taken steps to “ensure that precision in procedures would be carried out and consumer food safety would not be compromised”, the statement said.
The muffins were available at three out of the 11 Hong Kong outlets, and have since been taken off shelves, BreadTalk added.
Additional reporting by Peace Chiu
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