Formaldehyde in White Rabbit?
This is one rabbit that’s fallen down the hole and never coming back. One of my favorite childhood treats, White Rabbit Creamy Candy, was announced by BFAD to have contained formaldehyde, a harmful chemical substance.
Oh no. I remember getting giddy when I’d buy these candies from the sari-sari store. I remember my eyes widening at the sight of the blue, white and red wrapping. I remember getting so excited when I’d unwrap the candy and feast on the edible white paper. That was my favorite part of White Rabbit too! I guess future generations won’t get too enjoy this classic childhood treat any longer.
My officemates and I keep a pack of White Rabbit candy in the office. Fortunately for us, it’s the Butter Toffee variant, the brown one, as pictured in this entry. This one has no formaldehyde. Unfortunately, I prefer the white cream candy. And even if this brown one doesn’t have formaldehyde, I don’t think I’ll eat it anymore.
Read more about the news here. There are a couple more candies that were tested to have formalin so read up.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Like you, my mom prefers the Chinese manufactured White Rabbit over the locally produced one because of its chewiness. The paper which wraps the candy is an added treat. I brought all her stock with me in May when I travelled out of the country. She just bought a pack of the white cream candies but will have to forgo the sweets because of the formaldehyde. Will check out the link to be better informed. Thanks.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
hay! Heard about this too.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Relate pala tayong lahat. I and my friends feel the same way. Plus, an anti-BFAD white rabbit fan is ardently arguing the case on the white rabbit entry on my blog as well. ^_^;; I think a lot of people would rejoice if the BFAD findings get overturned. Or if the manufacturers can redo their formula.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
the poor chinese have come under fire for everything from fake eggs to fake medicine but somehow it’s hard to believe the sources at BFAD claiming what they have with the white rabbit candy. last i read, the manufacturer might be suing them for these accusations as the BFAD hasn’t been able to provide any scientific proof. tsk, tsk!
July 19th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
oh no! i love my white rabbit too especially the edible paper! nothing beats that! hahaha!
July 19th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
i’m really sad about this too. the last time i had this was dec 2006 i asked my friend to bring some for me here in LA
July 20th, 2007 at 2:19 am
aw!!! i too was a fan of white rabbit! i must admit, i haven’t had it in ages, but it still sucks to find out that they are dangerous to eat!
p.s. love your iReply button! i love getting comments myself. i certainly don’t get as much as you do, but i feel happy and giddy whenever i get a new comment! hee-hee.
July 20th, 2007 at 10:58 am
hi toni!
i swear kahit dito sa sydney, i go to the asian store to buy white rabbit, even my cousins who were born here love them. so sad.
this broke my heart when my hubby sent the email to me
July 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
There must be more to this than meets the eye. But to be on the safe side, no more white rabbit for us for the meantime. I’m blogging about this tomorrow.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Oh no! my all-time favorite white rabbit candy. On second thought, I haven’t seen anyone suffer terrible side effects from years of eating white rabbit. Who knows? We might be consuming so much more stuff with folmaldehyde!
Yeesh, we have white rabbit pa naman at home. I guess I have to dispose them now and keep ‘em away from the kids. And I’ll probably dispose them by eating the candy myself! Hehehe…
Shucks, would this be the last time? I’m torn.
July 20th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
I heard about it too. So sad! I like it pa naman. It’s always good to take precautionary measures. Thanks for sharing.
July 21st, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I liked the creamy variant too. Yikes, nakakatakot talaga. Masarap pala ang formaldehyde, hehehe. We should all be very careful talaga, kaya off limits na ang certain candies and cookies.
July 21st, 2007 at 8:27 pm
oh no!! not my white rabbit candy! i love this stuff! i used to eat it alot when i was younger. hmm..i guess i won’t be having anymore of these lollies =(
July 21st, 2007 at 10:21 pm
And we all thought it couldn’t get worse when Sunsilk was found to have formaldehyde… I wonder if Haw Flakes are affected too? Fave ko pa naman yun, mapanuon hanggang ngayon hehehe!
BTW, did you also see the news on those siopao in China which was 40% pork and 60% chopped cardboard/boxes?
July 22nd, 2007 at 9:40 am
Gosh, thanks for letting me know, I have been scouring supermarkets looking for these things.. Now ther’re phased-out. I didn’t want to buy the Chinese white-rabbit like candy, it’s just not right. It’s not fair!!!
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:27 pm
saw in the news na magdedemanda raw ang company nito because it’s not true daw. ayon naman sa bfad, the company is doing this to save face.
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:41 am
@eye
It was said to be a hoax, the cardboard siopao, I mean. Here’s a report from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/18/china.health.fake.reut/index.html?iref=newssearch
July 29th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Leah, the BFAD has laboratories that conduct tests. Of course there’s scientific proof.
As for the manufacturer suing, duh… what da ya expext? Denial is easy.
They claim that a “reliable” lab in China had tested their product and found no formaldehyde. Question: who commissioned the test? THE MANUFACTURER. Who sent the samples for the test? Again THE MANUFACTURER. So would the manufacturer send good samples only? OF COURSE.
The BFAD conducted random sampling. That’s how tests should be conducted. Not some paid-for-tests by some “reliable” (uhurm…) Chinese company.
Communism sure sucks. Takes away social responsibility spirit from people. I just heard of the expat family in Hongkong whose Cat was stolen by neighbors and eaten.
And then theres the ad for the company wanting to buy live rats per kilo from the farmers faced with the crop pest. I wonder, what the rats are for…
So I suggest you throw out your chinese white rabbit. (Thank God, I’ve always preferred the LOcal White RAbbit) and all the Malings and Pet Food and everything banned by BFAD. BEtter safe than sorry.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:51 am
grabe ang labo talaga! kainis!