Indonesia may be a few weeks behind, but the country’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) today announced a recall of the vanilla flavor of Häagen-Dazs ice cream over pesticide contamination concerns.
In a statement published today, BPOM said it is pulling the mini cup (100 milliliters) and pint (473 milliliters) variants of Häagen-Dazs’ vanilla ice cream, which were imported from France, from retail distribution. The agency cited an alert from the European Union warning that the products contained ethylene oxide — a chemical found in pesticide — to be the reason for the recall.
“All other Häagen-Dazs ice cream products registered with BPOM may be distributed in Indonesia,” the statement read.
Ethylene oxide, a flammable gas with a sweet odor, may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and breathing difficulty, among other mild symptoms. It is also carcinogenic to humans by the inhalation route of exposure.
Many countries around the world have ordered recalls for the same product. Closer to home, the vanilla ice cream was recalled in Hong Kong and Singapore, among others, earlier this month.
BPOM says it will conduct market inspections to ensure the product is no longer in distribution. The agency has called on the public to report any discovery of vanilla Häagen-Dazs before its distribution permit is reinstated.
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