If you’ve been suspecting that bak kwa sold here taste a wee bit too exotic, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) would like to dispel all your freaky notions.
No, your favourite barbecued pork jerkies don’t contain rat, fox and mink flesh.
The scare comes after gullible folks have been receiving and spreading email messages claiming that most bak kwa originate from China — and as such may contain those exotic ingredients, or pretty much anything other than pork.
AVA however assures that the Chinese New Year staple sold here is produced locally from raw pork sourced from countries such as Australia, Brazil and Spain. In fact, only less than 5 percent of bak kwa is sourced from China — and even those ones are approved as semi-processed frozen sliced pork.
“AVA also conducts regular authenticity tests on all imported meat products,” they wrote in a press release. “So far, imported meat products, including those from China, have passed our authenticity tests.”
What’s banned however are bak kwa sourced from Malaysia, and that’s why you can’t just go across the borders to stockpile them pork jerkies.
