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Gala, Granny Smith apples restricted from entering country – Bernama

US embassy raises alert on contaminated apples shipped to Sarawak

The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry has restricted the entry of Gala and Granny Smith apples from the United States into Malaysia, as the products have been suspected to be tainted with Listeriosis bacteria.

Its minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the restriction was imposed by the Department of Malaysian Quarantine Inspection Services after the Ministry received a notice on the contamination two days ago.

"We received a notice from US Food and Drug Administration informing us about the contamination and it is understood that it has caused three deaths and many fallen ill in the US and Canada," he said in Bera today.

However, he said, the ministry had no jurisdiction to recall the apples that were already in Malaysia, as it involved food nutrition under the Health Ministry.

The issue related to the ban on the apples had spread via the social media for the past few days.

It had been reported that the bacteria was detected at an apple processing centre in Bidart Bros near Bakersfield, California involving apples coated with caramel. – Bernama, January 17, 2015.