Fact Check No Pig S Blood In Drink Maker Yeo S Products

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Drink manufacturer Yeo’s, whose products are a household name in Malaysia and Singapore, has been wrongly accused of promoting a new drink derived from pig’s blood.
However, checks found that the drink company had been mistaken for Belgian company Veos, which in May announced its invention to produce drinkable water from animal blood.
The issue became viral among netizens after Media Mulia TV, a webTV station - sister outlet of Utusan Malaysia - produced a news bulletin about the Belgian innovation.
Even though Veos did not specify the type of animal blood it used, Media Mulia and Utusan headlined its report as “Darah babi diproses jadi minuman” (Pig’s blood processed into a drink).
Utusan’s article is behind a paywall while the TikTok video by the webTV station published on June 9 last year is accessible to all and has been shared more than 3,000 times.
Since then, there have been various versions of the video emerging on social media.
One version going viral on WhatsApp includes a caption claiming that Yeo’s is producing a new drink made of pig’s blood and should be boycotted.
“Avoid any drinks with the Yeo’s brand from now on. We don’t know the type of drinks distributed!” the message read.
The accompanying video, which includes the Media Mulia news bulletin, also includes a caption referring to the end of days.
Valid halal certification
According to the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), Yeo’s - or Yeo Hiap Seng (M) Sdn Bhd - has valid halal certification.
Jakim had on Feb 2 debunked the claim that Yeo’s was producing drinks with water sourced from pig’s blood.
It did the same last June after the Media Mulia report was published, prompting the viral claims.
“The company mentioned in the video is Veos which operates in Belgium and has no links with the Yeo’s brand distributed by Yeo Hiap Seng (M) Sdn Bhd, a legitimate halal certification holder,” Jakim said.
Veos’ animal by-products
Veos Group in Belgium focuses on processing animal by-products as part of the circular economy.
It produces animal by-products into protein for various industries, and to do so it requires large quantities of water.
Its invention captures vapour released from the animal blood from the production process, which is then left to condense until it becomes water.
“This water is subsequently purified by the new water purification installation so that it can be reused in the production process. As a result, we use up to 40 percent less groundwater, the equivalent of 45 million litres of water on an annual basis,” Veos said in its press statement last May.
Malaysiakini is part of the Malaysian fact-checking alliance JomCheck.
Through JomCheck, Malaysians can submit requests to fact-check a claim by sending a WhatsApp message to the tipline at 017-477 6659 (WhatsApp text only, no calls) or via this link. - Mkini

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