A Shanghai food company has denied that its famous "White Rabbit" creamy candy contains the poisonous chemical substance formaldehyde, as claimed by Philippine food authorities.

Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan (Group) Company Limited said in a statement issued Wednesday that the company had carried out testings on the candy after it heard the news and had sent samples to the city's authoritative testing institution for further tests.

The company said no preservative had ever been used in the production of the "White Rabbit" creamy candy. Formaldehyde, a known cancer causing agent, can be used as preservative or disinfectant.

A report posted Monday on www. gmanews.tv, a news Website of Philippine GMA television said the country's Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD) found that the "White Rabbit" creamy candy and three other food products from China contained formaldehyde "after inspecting for more than two weeks over 600 food products that the Philippines imported from China".

The Website said the agency would "advise consumers to refrain from buying such goods until these are proven safe".

Guan Sheng Yuan said it had asked for the testing report and candy samples from the BFAD through Philippine distributors, but so far received no response.

The statement said it was "extremely irresponsible for the BFAD to release the testing report before the product was identified by its producer".

Guang Sheng Yuan said fake "White Rabbit" candy products were rampant in recent years both in home and abroad, due to the worldwide influence of the famous brand.

Shanghai's quality and technical supervision authorities said Wednesday they are to investigate into the case and make the results known to the public as soon as possible.

Three other products allegedly found to be tainted with formaldehyde are a brand of milk candy made by a company in Jinjiang city, east China's Fujian Province, two grape biscuits produced by different companies based in Dongguan, Guangdong Province.

No response is currently available from the producers of the three companies.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19 2007)