Japan’s Ajinomoto Co announced on today (30 January) that it had finished recalling all consignments of monosodium glutamate (MSG) seasoning from Muslim dominated Indonesia after the seasoning was found to be tainted with pork fat earlier this month (click here for article).

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“We finished recalling 2,750 tonnes of the product in Indonesia last Wednesday,” said a spokesman for Ajinomoto.


Ajinomoto started the recall in early January when authorities suspected that MSG sold by the Japanese firm was tainted with pork fat. Indonesian police detained eight of its officials after the affair broke, but were later released. Muslim dietary law forbids the use of food products derived from pigs as they see the animal as intrinsically unclean. 


Ajinomoto has applied to the Indonesian government to reclaim the status of “halal”, or lawful, for its products: “We hope we can receive approval as quickly as possible, but it is purely up to the authorities in Indonesia,” said the spokesman, who declined to be named.


Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, with 80% of its 210 milion people following Islam.

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