Last week, Facebook page 喜怒哀乐 Emo-Ji shared a video of a man burning a cracker with a lighter in an attempt to prove that it contained plastic and was not safe for consumption.
The man, whose face was not shown throughout the entire video but can be heard speaking in a Chinese dialect, lit up a couple of Hup Seng’s “Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers” with a cigarette lighter and watched as the crackers burned. As the crackers charred and appeared to be melting, he then claimed that they could contain or is laced with synthetic material.
Watch the video below:
The 1-minute 45-second long video has since garnered over 1 million views and 46,671 shares. Hup Seng’s “Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers” are one of the most popular brands of cream crackers in the market so it didn’t take long for the video to trigger a food scare alert.
However, several netizens were quick to call the man out for his video.
One netizen said, “Why don’t you burn your shirt to test if it has plastic? Or your tissue paper to test for plastic? You can sue the tissue paper factory for deceiving you and that you have wiped your ass with plastic all these years.” while another commented, “Anything that is dried and contain oil will burn. Unless they have scientific analysis.”
Biscuits and crackers manufacturer Hup Seng then took to their Facebook page to respond to the “plastic crackers” claims.
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In their official statement, Hup Seng said:
“With regards to the case of burning biscuits, we would like to share that it is the characteristic of flour and/or oil related food products that they will combust or burn. However, this ability to combust has no direct correlation or effect on food safety. Our Hup Seng Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers are safe for consumption. In 2011, we submitted our Hup Seng Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers for lab test on plasticizers and obtained proof that plasticizers were not detected. Recently, we have sent our Special Cream Crackers for lab test on plasticizers again and we will announce the results as soon as we obtain them.respond to the ridiculous claims and calm the unfounded fears of consumers over the ‘the case of burning biscuits’.”
The company also added that the video clip, made by disreputable and hostile individuals, was intended to tarnish the company’s product image and reputation.
On Monday (1st August), Hup Seng followed up with a lab report which detailed that the burning characteristic of the “Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers” had no direct correlation with the safety of food consumption.
“For your cream cracker, due to its low moisture, air pocket in your product aided by the edible oil, it is very natural that it can be burnt,” a lab expert was quoted as saying.
Case closed, guys. Y’all may go back to enjoying your Hup Seng “Ping Pong Special Cream Crackers” now ;)
Sources: 喜怒哀乐 Emo-Ji, Hup Seng.
