THE Health Ministry will not recall a durian-flavoured instant coffee mix believed to have led to the hospitalisation of seven people, as there is no evidence the contamination was caused by the manufacturers, Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam was reported as saying.

“Apart from these few packets, there is no evidence right now to pin the blame on its producers,” Dr Subramaniam was quoted as saying by The Star.

He said ministry officials had paid the coffee factory a visit and tested its products.

“We did not find narcotic elements and did not have any evidence to incriminate the manufacturers.”

Dr Subramaniam also said authorities had determined that drugs were placed in tampered sachets of the instant coffee, which was sold widely both in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore, but were still determining how and why the coffee was contaminated.

“We want the police to investigate how this substance could have gone into the premix coffee.

“There seems to be a pattern in which those who became ill received the coffee from strangers,” he was quoted as saying.

Initial police probes revealed that the sachets had been opened and resealed, with 10g of a green substance added inside.

On Saturday, two garbage truck drivers became the latest victims of the instant coffee mix after a colleague shared one of the two packets he had found inside a dustbin in Penang.

According to police, 60-year-old Mat Dat started vomiting and experiencing dizziness 10 minutes after consuming the drink.

His 59-year-old colleague, Md Ruslan Hussain, also complained of blurry vision before passing out.

Their housemate sent them to Penang Hospital.

“We have contacted the supervisor of the garbage collection company in Relau to look for the worker,” said Dr Subramaniam.

“We want him to give us the packets for investigation.”

Five other people, including two women aged between 19 and 62, became ill between January 27 and 30 after consuming the durian-flavoured coffee.

Singapore’s food authority has since pulled the product off the shelves of all retailers, pending the outcome of investigations. – February 5, 2018.