Muslim retail and consumer groups on 29 May called for a boycott of products made by British-based confectioner Cadbury and its parent Kraft Foods Group Inc after two chocolate varieties were found to have contravened Islamic rules by containing pork DNA.Cadbury Malaysia, a part of Mondelez International Inc, recalled the Dairy Milk chocolates after Malaysian authorities found the pork traces during a random test. Products in this Muslim majority country are regularly checked to ensure they are halal, or permissible according to Islamic law.
Cadbury Malaysia only sells its products in the local market. Mondelez’s Malaysia sales are a small fraction of the around 15 per cent of its revenues that come from the Asia-Pacific region, but concerns over halal standards could jeopardise sales in far bigger Muslim markets such as Indonesia.
A Muslim retail group said that the 800 stores it represents would be asked to stop selling all products made by Cadbury and Kraft, which acquired Cadbury in 2010 in a $19 billion deal. Kraft subsequently spun off its North American grocery business as Kraft Foods Group.