Monde Nissin (MONDE) of ultra bilyonaryo Betty Ang crashed in the stock market after its best-selling noodle products, Lucky Me Pancit Canton and Instant Noodle Soup (beef flavor), were recalled by the European Union and Taiwan for containing cancer-causing chemicals.
Pesticide overload! Ireland, Malta order recall of Betty Ang’s Lucky Me! instant noodles
MONDE dropped to as low as P12.94 before closing at P13.36, down by 7.22 percent on July 7. It had a total turnover of P266 million with P41 million net foreign selling.
MONDE has been battered for weeks, hitting a 52-week low of P12.62 two weeks ago, due to the adverse impact of rising inflation commodity prices. News of the EU and Taiwan ban piled the selling pressure on Monde.
Monde Nissin denies pesticide use amid EU product recall vs Lucky Me! noodles
MONDE confirmed that its Lucky Me products were being recalled in the EU and Taiwan due to the presence of ethylene oxide, an antimicrobial pesticide used to sterilize spices.
Ethylene oxide is banned in Europe because it is carcinogenic, mutagenic (causes cancer), and reprotoxic (harmful to reproduction).
“The recall affects other companies’ noodle brands and multiple categories such as ice cream, sesame seed, spices, calcium carbonate supplements, among others…Rest assured that all Lucky Me! products are Philippine FDA registered and comply with local food safety standards and even the US FDA standards for ethylene oxide,” said MONDE, which gets half of its profits from instant noodles.
The Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration are set to probe MONDE’s noodle products.