Quail egg imports from farm in Malaysia suspended over drug residue

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 07, 2019 06:00 am

The import of fresh quail eggs from a Malaysian farm has been suspended, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

The suspension of quail egg imports from Telic Farm, which contributes about 20 per cent of Singapore's total supply, took effect last month, SFA said in response to media queries.

Residue of nicarbazin - a drug that stops female birds from producing eggs or causes them to lay eggs that do not hatch - was detected in the farm's quail eggs.

"The suspension will be in place until SFA has verified that the farm has measures in place to ensure that their eggs do not contain drug residues and are safe for human consumption," it said.

SFA added that Singapore imported some 17 million fresh quail eggs from Telic Farm last year.

Singapore's quail egg supply comes from local farms and imports from Malaysia, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, the agency said.