REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- PT Pharos Indonesia's Corporate Communications Director Ida Nurtika has clarified that Viostin DS' raw materials are obtained from cattle provided by Spanish suppliers offering halal assurance from a halal certification agency. "They provide a guarantee in the form of a halal certificate which after we check, the certificate is issued by a recognized institution of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)," Nurtika noted at a press conference here on Tuesday.

With a halal certificate from a recognized institution, such as the MUI, PT Pharos Indonesia is confident that the raw material chondroitin sulfate is not derived from pigs. It was not until November 2017 that the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) had conducted a post-market inspection and declared Viostin DS, with a specific distribution number, proven to contain pig DNA.

"We were shocked by this (finding) and immediately coordinated the withdrawal of all Viostin DS products in circulation, including those with different permit numbers from those found containing pig DNA by the BPOM," she revealed.

Also read: Viostin DS, Enzyplex tablets contain pig DNA: BPOM