Police Says 'Durian White Coffee' Instant Mix That Sent 5 To Hospital Was Laced With Drugs
However, the manufacturer has defended the product and called it "suitable for all".
By Sadho Ram — 03 Feb 2018, 07:12 PM
On Friday, details of the police investigation into the samples of the instant coffee mixture, identified as 'Mycafe Penang Durian White Coffee', were made public by police
According to George Town OCPD Assistant Commissioner Anuar Omar, samples of the instant coffee mixture, which had sent at least five people to the Emergency Department of Penang Hospital, "were laced with a kind of drug".
Anuar said that while the Penang Food Safety and Quality Laboratory confirmed that the sampled sachets contained a foreign substance, believed to be a kind of drug, the authorities have yet to identify what type of drug it was.
Assistant Commissioner Anuar also said that the samples of the instant coffee mixture had been opened and re-sealed
"The re-sealed packet is heavier by 10gm compared to the original 40gm. The coffee mixture also contains a foreign green substance which is not available in the original packaging," NST Online quoted Anuar as saying on 2 February.
Adding that there is a marked difference in weightage, contents and packaging of the instant durian coffee mixture, NST Online reported Anuar saying that police have since opened an investigation into the case under Section 272 of the Penal Code for adulteration of food or drink which is intended for sale.
The George Town OCPD Assistant Commissioner, meanwhile, helped shed more light on the incident that occurred on Tuesday when two Nepali guards were admitted to hospital after drinking the instant coffee mix
NST Online reported Anuar saying that at the time of the incident about 9.40am an unknown woman approached one of the guards and handed him a big packet of the Mycafe Penang Durian White Coffee for free before leaving the place.
"There were 16 small packets of the coffee mixture inside. They boiled water to mix the drink. After two minutes of drinking the drink, they started experiencing chest pain and breathing difficulty before they subsequently passed out," he added.
Additionally, the manufacturer of the brand has lodged a police report, stating that checks into sachets taken from one of the victims showed that they were tampered with
The manufacturer shared a photo on its official Facebook page, showing the packaging taken from the victim weighing 10g extra than the original product.
It also issued a statement warning customers not to take coffee from strangers and advised them to purchase its products from the authorised dealers only.
"We wish to reiterate that we have given and shall continue to give full cooperation to all authorities in having this matter investigated and solved."
While the manufacturer defended the product, calling it "suitable for all", supermarkets in George Town were no longer stocking the instant coffee mix since the incident