Malaysians told not to eat seaweed

Malaysians told not to eat seaweed

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia's Health Ministry has warned the public to stop eating "sarer" seaweed imported from southern Thailand after it was found to contain excessive lead levels, newspapers said yesterday.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said tests on the seaweed, which is a popular salad dish in Malaysia's northern states, recently found it contained lead levels of between 2.1 parts per million (ppm) and111 ppm from the permissible 2 ppm level.

Washing and cooking the stringy seaweed will not remove the lead contamination which Chua attributed to polluted sea waters off Thailand's Pattani province.

Retailers in Malaysia's northern Kelantan state, where the seaweed is mostly eaten because it is considered a delicacy, have been told to stop selling the seaweed.