Ajinomoto is 'halal': Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid added further confusion to the Ajinomoto taste enhancer controversy by claiming that the product, which was declared as uneatable for Muslims by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), is halal since it did not contain pig enzymes.

The President made the comments after reviewing a study conducted by the National Institute of Sciences and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology.

"President Abdurrahman Wahid said the Ajinomoto taste enhancer is halal," presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told journalists after Abdurrahman met with visiting Japanese justice minister Masahiko Kohumura at the Merdeka Palace on Tuesday.

The popular taste enhancer has been recalled and taken off the shelves across the country after the MUI questioned its production process which uses an extract derived from pigs instead of from cows to develop an enzyme needed in the manufacturing of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Islam forbids consumption of pork or its by-products. The MUI halal certification indicates that a product is fit for consumption by Muslims.

Ajinomoto officials maintain the pork enzyme is not present in the end product.

As a result of the controversy eight top executives, including three Japanese nationals of PT Ajinomoto Indonesia are currently being detained by the police.

The company's factory in East Java has also been sealed.

The Batam branch of the Indonesian Council for Islamic Propagation (DDII) brushed aside Abdurrahman's assertions.

We are still convinced that Ajinomoto contains extracts of pork as reported by MUI's Food and Drug Analysis Body," Batam's DDII chairman Ashari Ansyah Noor said as quoted by Antara on Tuesday evening.

"So even if the President rejects the findings, we are still be convinced that Ajinomoto is haram (forbidden)."

The withdrawal of the product continued across the country.

Some 3,000 tons of MSG products are being recalled. It is also effecting the company's other taste enhancers such as Masako.

In North Sumatra Antara reported that 20.4 tons of Ajinomoto and 1.8 tons of Masako have already been withdrawn from the market since Monday.

"According to our data, some 100 tons of Ajinomoto were sent to North Sumatra," the head of the Medan branch of PT Ajinomoto Sales Indonesia Ariyanto Ben said, adding that the recall should be completed by Jan. 24.

He added that the company had allocated some Rp 5 million for the recall including refunds.

Some 60.2 tons of Ajinomoto taste enhancers from Central Sulawesi are also being shipped back to East Java where the product's factory is located.

Most of the taste enhancers were collected from provincial distributor PT Tompotika Raya and the rest from 234 shops and kiosks across Palu.

In a related development, parent company Ajinomoto Co. on Tuesday said in Tokyo that there was no pork in the final product it sells.

Ajinomoto acknowledged that it used an enzyme from pork to make its products in Indonesia but said: "There is absolutely none (of the enzyme) in the final Ajinomoto product."

To calm public anger over the issue, Ajinomoto on Tuesday said two additional products used in cooking would also be withdrawn from shelves as a precaution.

The New Straits Times newspaper in Kuala Lumpur reported on Tuesday that an Islamic consumer group in predominantly Muslim Malaysia is calling for tests to be done on food products made by the local subsidiary of Ajinomoto to confirm that Muslims can consume them despite assurances they are halal.

Ajinomoto shares in Tokyo on Tuesday sank by 14.3 percent to 1,194 yen (US$10.31) on worries the problem could spill over to other Islamic nations.

Ajinomoto accounts for about one third of the global MSG market. The Indonesian sales are a minor segment.

"The market is wondering if this is an issue only in Indonesia or would spread to other nations," said Hidenori Kawasaki, general manager at Kokusai Securities' equities trading division.

Ajinomoto said in a statement that it did not know how much impact the incident in Indonesia would have on its earnings.

"It is not clear when we will be able to resume selling the MSG products in Indonesia," a spokesman at Ajinomoto said. (mds)