Frequently Asked Question & Answers
About Our Brands
Certification
Ayam Brand™ products are manufactured in state-of-the-art facilities that meet the highest international standards with worldwide-recognized certifications and are certified ‘Halal’. HACCP MS 1480:2007 : The optimum system of preventive controls and most effective process to protect against food contamination.
ISO 9001: 2008 QMS : A quality management system to deliver a consistent top quality to consumers.
Halal MS 1500:2009: strict supervision and certification from JAKIM Malaysia.
Others Halal certifications are issued by official certification bodies recognized by JAKIM.
Corporate Social Responsibility
For many years, Ayam Brand™ Malaysia is giving back to those who needed most. Every years 2 months of food supplies are distributed nationwide to charitable homes to support the elders, disabled and orphans.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
With an environmental logic, Ayam Brand™ believes that the whole product should be used in the process to limit waste therefore we are engaged in a long term production program to reduce waste and carbon footprint.
For our coconut range: our factory process the whole coconut (water, oil, milk and cream) and the only waste, the coconut shell, is collected and used for the burners to replace usual fossil energy, like oil or gas.
In the case of our fish factory, we are working on special machinery that will process the rejects to produce Fish Hydrolyzed Protein for the pharmaceutical industry.
We minimize packaging and work mostly with simple packaging material like tin, glass or paper, which are 100% recyclable.
About Our Quality
Are Ayam Brand™ Products Gluten Free
The ingredients in our tuna range are gluten free. Our tuna factory has an organization that actively prevents allergen cross-contamination.
We also do random checks on our products to ensure that our products do not have various types of allergen cross-contamination. However as we do not make such public claims for this range of products as we currently do not have a systematic allergen control and gluten free certification.
Does Ayam Brand™ Use Sustainable Palm Oil
Ayam Brand™ has, for many years, implemented a responsible policy for the use of palm oil, by replacing it, wherever technically possible, by alternative vegetable oils with a healthier nutrient profile. For the few Ayam Brand™ products still using palm oil, our factories only source segregated certified sustainable palm oil of West Malaysian origin.
Is Ayam Brand™ Tuna Sustainable
AYAM BRAND™ only uses tuna species, which are not endangered & from biomass that is healthy (not overfished).
Should I Be Worried About Mercury Levels In Tuna
Big marine predators like shark, whale, swordfish and some big tuna species may contain traces of methyl mercury because the mercury concentrations increase at the top of the food chain.
Ayam Brand™ selects only small size fishes from two species of tuna: skipjack and small yellowfin.
Because the selected tuna are relatively small, they are naturally unlikely to concentrate mercury like big size predators.
Notwithstanding the tuna selection, Ayam Brand™, for the total peace of mind of its tuna consumers, send each and every batch of its tuna productions for an independent laboratory mercury analysis.
Ayam Brand™ makes sure that its tuna productions comply with the most stringent food safety regulations in the world.
What No Added MSG Means
Monosodium glutamate or MSG is a flavor enhancer because it balances, blends and rounds the total perception of other tastes. You can find it under the food additive E621. Ayam Brand™ strongly believes that recipes with fresh natural ingredients are the best form of food. Hence, all of our products are guaranteed without added MSG to provide you with healthy and delicious meals.
What To Do With The Fish Oil White Particles?
EXPLAINING THE WHITE PARTICLES ON SARDINES & MACKEREL TOMATO SAUCE
Have you ever opened Ayam Brand™ Sardines or mackerels in Tomato Sauce and found that there are some white particles/dots on top of the sauce? Don’t worry, those are normal, safe to eat and, in fact, it is a proof of quality!
WHAT ARE THE WHITE PARTICLES?
When the fish is very fatty and juicy, some of its fats migrate from the flesh to the surface of the sauce. The white particles are only fish oil that have crystalized in the form of white particles, depending on the storage temperature. It usually happens when the cans spend some time in an air-conditioned room.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE FISH OIL WHITE PARTICLES?
Nothing! These white particles just indicate that the fish is very fat and juicy. Simply heat up the sardines or mackerels and these fats will dissolve into fish oil. Don’t need to worry about it anymore, especially now that you know that they are fish oil!
WHAT IS FISH OIL?
Fish oil is healthy oil derived from the tissues of fatty fish, like sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, which are recommended by nutritionists. Ayam Brand™ only chooses the best quality Sardines from the cold seas. These sardines are much fattier and juicier to stand the extreme coldness. They contain richer fish oil which includes Omega-3. This is a natural process and shows that our sardines are of excellent quality.
Where Do Your Fishes Come From?
Our sardines are exclusively of the Sardinops or Genus Sardina species from the North-Western and Eastern Pacific waters, Southern waters of the Indian Ocean and North-Western Atlantic waters. Mackerels are exclusively of the Scomber species, caught mainly in the North Atlantic Ocean, North-western Pacific waters and Eastern pacific waters.
By selecting these fatty blue fishes that live in cold sea waters, we make sure our products are rich in "healthy fats" including DHA & EPA, the most beneficial Omega-3.
About Canned Food
Ayam Brand™ Going BPA-FREE
(1) Ayam Brand™ is compliant with the most stringent regulations in the world covering BPA and all Ayam Brand™ products are totally safe for consumption.
Most cans come with linings to protect food from contact with the metal used in the can. For decades, these linings have been made of epoxy, containing BPA (Bisphenol A).
Independent laboratory analyses have demonstrated that for most of Ayam Brand™'s reference products there is no migration of BPA to food even after each can's expiry date.
In 2009, France was the first country to prohibit BPA lacquers in contact with food. In some USA states like California, presence of BPA lacquers should be indicated on the packaging label.
Since 2017, we have been working on the implementation of BPA-FREE lining in all its cans.
(2) Ayam Brand™ is switching ALL its canned products to BPA-FREE CANS.
At the beginning of 2012, Ayam Brand™ took the decision to switch all its products to cans with linings containing neither BPA nor any similar family of components such as BPF, BPS etc. Ayam Brand™ is therefore setting even higher standards in this regard than consumers' expectation.
However, at the time the decision was taken, alternative BPA-free linings were not readily available. Ayam Brand™ took it upon itself to extensively test alternative linings with Real Time Aging analysis to ensure that the new lining is better and safer than the existing coating. It took several years for the can industry to formulate the new linings and for Ayam Brand™ to test them.
- All our sardines range are in BPA-free cans.
- All our mackerel/saba range are in BPA-free cans.
- All our canned coconut milk are in BPA-free cans.
- All other products in different packaging (like glass jars or Tetra Pack) are BPA-free.
- Our tuna range is in the process of completing the switch.
We have been able to progressively switch all of our products to BPA-free linings. However, there are still some products which have yet to fully switch to BPA-free cans. Please be assured that there is no BPA migration into our food for all of our product range. They are completely safe for consumption even though it has not yet been converted to BPA-free linings.
Do I Need To Cook Canned Food
Canned products are cooked in the can as part of the canning process. This means that they are always fully cooked in the sealed can and may be eaten straight from the can without the need for additional cooking. However, you can warm them up or use them as ingredient in your favourite cooking recipe.
How To Store Canned Foods
Unopened canned products should be stored in a cool, dry place where they can last for up to three years in your pantry unless the “best before” date says sooner.
Use a clean and rust-free can opener, or look for pull-tab cans, and wipe the top of a can before opening.
Do not store foods in opened cans in the refrigerator, instead, transfer unused contents to a safe storage container and place immediately in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Why There Are No Preservatives In Canned Food
A can is the best way to preserve the texture, presentation and taste of processed food for long, without adding preservatives.
Canning process uses sterilization, invented by a French cook in 1810 to preserve perishable food in such a stable manner that it could be stored and shipped overseas all year long.
Cans are vacuumed then sealed in air tight conditions and go through a high temperature and controlled heating process.
The heating process kills bacteria and preserves the food. The product can be the safely consumed without the help of preservatives.
More info: HTTP://WWW.MFCA.ORG.MY/
