SINGAPORE - A Malaysia-produced lettuce sold at NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Siong supermarkets under the Pasar and Iceberg brand names has been recalled, after the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) detected high levels of pesticide in the product.

In a statement on Thursday (Oct 4), the authority said the iceberg lettuce was imported from a Malaysian farm by Go Fresh Impex.

FairPrice confirmed the recall on Friday (Oct 5) and said in a statement it had earlier observed an anomaly in the product and approached AVA for lab tests.

"Test results confirmed our observation and revealed that the product contained higher-than-permitted levels of pesticides," the statement said.

Customers that bought the product at FairPrice from Sept 28 to Thursday (Oct 4) can claim a full refund from any FairPrice outlet by next Thursday (Oct 11). A receipt is not required.

They can also contact the supermarket chain's Customer Relations Hotline at 6552-2722 or via e-mail at general.feedback@fairprice.com.sg

AVA had detected high levels of Fipronil, a wide-spectrum pesticide, in the product. A wide-spectrum pesticide refers to a pesticide that is designed to kill or manage a wide variety of pests.

The lettuce is sold under the brand name Pasar with supplier code 40 at FairPrice.

At Sheng Siong, it is sold under the name Iceberg.

The lettuce is packaged into 400g packets at both supermarket chains, with the country of origin labelled as Malaysia.

Consumers who have purchased the affected lettuce can contact the respective supermarket retail outlets, said AVA.

The authority added that prior to cooking and consumption, consumers should wash and soak vegetables to remove any pesticide residues.

Correction note: An earlier version of this article misspelt Sheng Siong. This has been corrected. We are sorry for the error.