Malaysians, eat less boric acid laced noodles
Mar 1st, 2006 by Lilian
Do you all remember the tragedy in Kampar, Perak many years ago when a big group of children either died or got severely ill due to consumption of ‘loh see fun’ (a short, rice noodles)? Well, it looks like these manufacturers never learn or are too money-minded to care.
Boric acid (or in Hokkien, call peng seh/pangsar in Cantonese I think) is a prohibited chemical. Last time, when I was small, I know my mom was able to buy them from Chinese medicine hall. She used it to boil the rice dumpling. It gives the dumpling a shiny look and it doesn’t stick to the bamboo leaves.
Today, the Health Ministry has reported that they have found high traces of boric acid in noodles.
I shall copy the whole news here:
Yellow noodles contain highest level of boric acid
KUALA LUMPUR: Yellow noodles contain the highest amount of boric acid at 70.4%, said the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said in a recent statement that after yellow noodles is wantan noodles with 14.8% boric acid content, then koay teow, laksa, loh see fun and spring roll with 3.7% each.
Dr Chua: ‘Those who misuse boric acid will be nabbed’
Negri Sembilan recorded the highest percentage of boric acid misuse for food preservation, followed by Perak, Johor, Penang and Selangor.
A person who consumes food with a lot of boric acid could vomit, suffer from dysentery, dermatitis, kidney failure and damage to the blood vessels.
Boric acid is used to preserve wood in the furniture industry and is also used in medication.
The use of boric acid as a food preservative is banned in the country and those who flout this law can be fined up to RM100,000, jailed 10 years or both.
Dr Chua said the ministry launched a boric acid operation last year and of the 668 samples tested, 27 (4.04%) were found to contain the acid.
He said the ministry’s enforcement division would launch a special operation throughout the country this month and next month to nab those who misuse boric acid. – Bernama
So, parents – Please avoid feeding your small children with too much yellow noodles and other types of noodles in view of the risks. Make your own pasta! It is not that difficult. I had tried making yellow noodles too. Just flour and a few drop of alkali (edible ones) water. For pregnant moms and those who just delivered a baby, stay away from yellow noodles. I usually experienced an increase of bleeding if I take them.
However, if you are not afraid of it, there are lots of noodles on Penang food.
Do you have recipe of how to make your own chinese noodles?
To make yellow noodle is not easy because we don’t have the mould to get the noodle to turn out round. But if you have a pasta making machine, you can try with alkali water and flour. I won’t dare to give recipe cos I have never try before.
[...] Yellow noodle. They are made from wheat flour and alkali water (air abu). If you google boric acid yellow noodle, you will come to my parenting page. So, don’t eat too often ya! [...]
Thanks for the info! I am surpise that the local shops in Perth sell bags of the stuff! I’ve made yellow noodles out of pea flour, red lentil and rice flour without the borax. The borax was replaced by adding extra tapioca starch to maintain the glossy texture and elasticity, and of course, extra oil to control the stickiness. I’ve often used bicarbonate soda (baking soda) instead of lye water to impart a chewy texture to noodles/pasta.