A report on sodium nitrite/nitrate contents in EBN of Hong Kong was released on 22/09/2011 by Institute of Chinese Medicine at The Hong Kong Universitity of Science and Technology. According to the result, they named samples taken as "blood" nest (馬來西亞洞血燕) from Malaysia cave whereas "red" nest( 印尼屋紅燕) from Indonesian house but the report does not provide proof of country of origin for the said samples other than collecting raw bird nest, bird dropping and water on the spot from respective countries for test. I'm still in doubt if this test result is considered justifiable or completely foolproof unless the so called "blood" nest is truly from our cave and the "red" nest from Indonesia house is natural for sure.

This post has been edited by swift4ever: Oct 5 2011, 07:37 AM

国人久盛不衰的燕窝养生美容神话，在2011年的这个早秋突然幻灭了。然而对整个燕窝行业的整顿来说，这还仅仅只是一个开始。

ONE LAST WORD : ` DOOM! '........

This post has been edited by ChanK: Oct 5 2011, 08:31 AM

that is mean this game over?????/

是说这行业完了？？？？？
有人预言这行业以后没用了？？你怎么看？

A few days ago, I met a buyer from Selangor and he told me that he is owner of a processing plant here in Selangor and he was here to buy if we want to sell. he quoted Rm2850 for half cup but I asked for at least Rm3400 but were turn down cos he said that he can buy any amount at lower price from Indo to process here and if this is true, then what exported from Malaysia are not Malaysian Nest either. So, the authorities concerned should take step to protect our local industry from being damage by these illegal importing of nests which maybe contaminated. I learned from him is that the Chinese people are still buying and eating. He has no problem of getting buyers from China but the difficulties are on how to get the nests there as the authorities are hard on the import of nests as we all know that most of the nests are illegally imported into China. Here, the authorities do not make export of nests easier and infact too complicated and so most will use the easier way and that's to bypass the Law.

As I did mentioned that the authority should only need to make the exporters accountable for the nests exported from Malaysia and if so, there shouldn't be any future problem with nitrite or color nests. If Malaysian BH did have Red nests naturally (which I will be surprised), then let them export but they must take the blamed if these nests are found to be contaminated with impurities or others.

Most Red nests producers in our country state that their Red nests are natural nests harvested from the BH but I believe that they add and help alittle in the making of the Red nest by spraying chemical or fungus (or maybe special planks/metal ceiling) before harvesting. Their argument is that cave red nests are also cause by fungus or metals in the cave and so by adding such oxide or fungus on to the unharvested nests shouldn't be a reason at all. What in nature can be accepted but what added to shouldn't be allowed.

It just like wild and domesticated pigs; the wild pigs do come with natural parasites and diseases but we never allow on domesticated pigs.

Just my views on the matter to share.

Both of you own a BH? Why give up so easily?

yup, we got BH

but i think many owner also give up liao........

Once you got nests, even at Rm1K, you still make money but then we want is a fair price and not to be taken advantage off and that's the reason that I am still holding on to my nests as I believe that the nest deserve a better price.

Poor thing is that for new BH owners yet to have any harvesting, the downgrading of the price surely cause pain and sorrow. Many worry and must have be thinking of selling off the BHs while they still can.

Don't worry, I would advice these people cos the moon maybe small today but certain you will see the full reappearing again not very soon and will certainly be by the time you start harvesting.........be patient. Your money is well invested. My super size BH is still under construction and yet I am happy and not afraid like nobody is gonna buy the nests as I don't have any from this BH to sell.....Do have faith in yourself.

thanks west wing..

u give confidence liao....

but my friend 预言这行业以后没现在那么好。。。。

因为燕窝的价值不如一粒鸡蛋。。。。最近报告那么说的。。。。

how about u think about useful of bird nest????is it value 营养??

Remember that the bird nests have thousand years historic record to prove its usage and usefulness. Then, only Emperor and royal family can had them then so now to be able to eat it is already a royal gift. So, tell me how low can health food for the Emperor of China be price low and it should be priceless but then priceless must have a price tag ..hahahaha Have a good day, my friend and don't think about the EBN for a week or so.

Some1 told me that their BH is yielding 8kg per month.
And their BH is merely 3 years old.
Is is even possible? Can some1 shed some light?

cc to Forum.

Dear Dato Paduka Beh and Ms. Loh,

I note with dismay that this issue of Nitrites in dry EBN does not seem to be scientifically pursued.

My argument follows;

1 Dry EBN is never eaten without some form of cooking with water, the preparation involves soaking and washing with water several times.

2 Dry EBN expands when soaked in water, the volume is approximately 1 pc.expands to small rice bowl or 10gm EBN to 200gm. with water.

3 Nitrites and Nitrates are highly soluble in water.

Assuming, 1 pc. EBN is 10gm for ease of calculation, and the nitrite concentration is 100PPM

a after soaking only, without washing and changing water, the nitrite PPM will become (10gm / 200gm) ie one twentieth.
which is then 1/20 th. of 100PPM = 5PPM of soaked EBN

b Depending on temperature, duration and volume of water used, the amount of nitrites dissolving into the wash water will vary.
Assuming initial soak of 30 mins. and then 2 changes of water with a short period between changes for cleaning,
a large amount of nitrites and nitrates would be eliminated. Empirical analysis will easily confirm actual values.

A safe assumption of over 50% reduction can be made due to the nature of EBN's expansion in water and the solubility of nitrates and nitrites.

So, EBN prepared and ready for brewing would then become <2.5PPM nitrites starting from 100PPM Nitrites dry EBN.

Addition of any water in the brew would further dilute and therefore lower the PPM of nitrites.

It must be stressed that EBN is seldom eaten in concentrated 'jelly' form and more often mixed with a copious amount of water for obvious reasons.

Also note that the same restrictions applied for preserved meats, vegetables etc. cannot be applied as these foods are not prepared in the same way as EBN and many are consumed cooked but undiluted. eg we do not wash luncheon meat, ham, and we stir fry vegetables. EBN should be considered an unprocessed CONCENTRATE of which the nitrite concentrations will be greatly reduced after preparation.

MOA, MOH should be made aware of these glaring differences between Dry EBN and normal foodstuffs.

Your effort in enlightening the various GOM departments as well as relevant ROC authorities with these facts and all your ongoing work for the EBN industry is greatly appreciated.

See, we do have many good guys around helping to solve the present problem.....one thing we must consider is that Malaysia is a small country which China doesn't look up to...meaning that if we are America, then this situation is long aver.

If only the Chinese authorities listen to our reasoning; give Malaysia GOM the chance to explain, all will be well. The chinese have been eating the good thing, birdnest for many generations and remain healthy so this should be just a hiccup and over in no time.

So, be strong and confidence as this isn't the first time we encounter problem with low price and we shall see the sun again.

Dear Sifus

Appreciaiton to TF for the initiative.

Does anyone have contacts with Tan Sri Robert Kuok. I read an article that he is very influential in China. If I am not wrong, he is a pioneer to invest in China way back in 1970s or 1980s. He has a chain of Shangarila hotels in China and still expanding. He will be of great help to Malaysia BN i.e. birdnest industry.

God bless us.

doom meaning doom for the next one or few years n if it is going to recover back to the good old days where demand exceed supply.....u go n read the news published in china for the past two months....it is everywhere.....many medias, newspapers, magazines in china are actually use this as headlines story.....this is not good at all....all the news are extremely negatives to bnests, bird's nests not a food source at all, just something that peoples buy as expensive gifts to others n also for rich ppls to eat...but if they learned that bn is not as healthy as they think.....those who think of buying it as a gift to others will think twice n those rich ppls that eat it themselves, they can choose other more expensive healthy products to eat liked `tong chong chou' n etc.....many many other choices !....


it is no longer issue of whether we can send our nests to china or not.....send there n no one buying also is an issue.....

of course, it will not happen where no one will buy nests at all...but dropping 50% of nests sales will cause the whole market collapsed...

no one can predict how fast this time we can recover, during flu times it is about 6 months....this time....pray harder loh.....


to have china gives the green light to sell bn is just one small step....educate n make consumers to be confident with bn is utmost important.....



This post has been edited by ChanK: Oct 6 2011, 08:31 AM

Very good morning CK

Cheer up man, be positive and look at the bright sunny day today.

Accoridng to reports, HK imported 80% of BN. Their main market in China. They are the bigger loser if mainland really stop consuming BN. HKies will take action to remedy this issue. But this doesn't means Msia do not have to do anything. Just my 2 cents

Cheers guys

Bro, I understand you well as I am also there but be positive and there is always a way out of every situation.

Facts remain that birdnests are very good for health and it's only those bastards creating a storm by creating bad bird nests that give the end users less confidence in eating bird nests.

Likewise meats are healthy only if those animals slaughtered are healthy and clean. If the rich people taking birdnests understand these reasoning and will only buy from reliable sources, then they shall have no worry and full of benefits to them. What's good with money if you cannot eat well. We, Malaysian may go into retails outlets buz in China to ensure end users get the real thing just like when pork is too expensive due to hugh profit taking by the middlemen , the farmers sell directly to the end users bypassing the middle men which make pork very expensive. We can create Malaysian Brand in China and build up a trusted Brand only available from our outlets in China to safeguard the Malaysian pure nests market in China. Rich people want to eat but don't know the real from the fake....no thanks to our fellow exporters and China retailers who are only interested in making fast cash without considering long term gains........typical of Chinese men, many are myopic by nature.

If we give up already, we must as well sell off our BHs and put the cash into the bank. Be brave and strong; don't sell low and try hard to push price up and ensure that our products remain pure. Malaysian GOM may even can stock pile bird nests so ensure that the market doesn't fall below a certain price guideline.

It's my view on the matter if you agree.

Ya, many folks trying to play monkey business with this industry for own benefit.

No matter how rotten price going to be, this country does not have much choice left if any.

Crude oil is near depletion, nett importer by 2020. We are running out of natural reserves to push up country GDP. Tat's why they include EBN in the ETP. Try advocating farm BHs, close all town BHs and see, they will dig their own political graves faster. How many BILLIONS need for investment and how many BILLIONS will go down drain with risk factor of 90% failure in the farm land? Go figure.

We will be doomed when we start import crude oil. Transportation, food, rental ... high inflation will kick in. Tat's expected before Vision 2020. No thanks to this legendary Old Horse Dr Ma lah! Burning away BLACK GOLD with his useless Potong in 1-Generation building white elephants!

Hope he can live up to 100 yo to see how he destroy a nation with his Disillusion 2020!

This post has been edited by Bobby C: Oct 6 2011, 04:54 PM

What started all this mess? Is it Red nests?

the current price as at today is what u think is fair price minus rm1k, better not tell the actual price here...n it is dropping further....no need to hope tht CNY will goes up again...they are piling in fact for CNY....so have to cross fingers that miricles do happen n their stocks are out before CNY n will buy more .....but none of them confidence that this time around CNY sales will be the same as previous year...judging from the feedback of Consumers confidence/preferance for gift choice...

all arrows point to the same direction.

Surprisingly, this time many farmers n industry players knew what actually happened and what caused all this mess n who is the culprit..they are so pissed off and are now educating/informing farmers and those who still blur with what actually caused this mess to happened town after town.....in another month, all will knows who caused all this.......

i thought most farmers are just kampung katak that knows nothing.....

On someone's pm to me on the matter concerning opening.

Let me just say, all entrances are infact similar but just modifications on the basic form i.e open window type of entrance if you serious examine it.

All type do have their advantages and disadvantages and which one to use all depend on the area and the best form and only form that should be use for town is only open air well or open roof if your prefer to call it. Many consultants refuse to see to it sadly brought with it the present sound pollution and many complaints and because this reason, the future of the towns' BHs are at stake.

If only all BHs @ towns did listen to my reasoning to have open air well, we will be at a better position to negotiate with the local authorities. If we didn't cause the local authorities pain in the A** hole, they wouldn't wanna give the many close shop notices or tear down orders. You think the enforcers @ local authorities have nothing to do....if they have time, better go for teh tarik or read newspaper than to go round issuing notices and take actions.

Here, we have many BHs @ towns being issued tear down notices and all handed the notices to our local swiftlets Association to solve the matter with the authority concerned.

1. All these BHs are shoplets near residential areas which are not allow under the 1GP.
2. Most of these BHs owners were not members of the local Association and now are because of the notices received. I wonder why the association wanna to take in problematic members just to help them solve their problems which these affected owners should have join the association long ago and abide by the guildlines provided by the association.
3. Association reasoning is that the more members to better position and stronger will be the Association. Rightly said if they have join the Association before getting into trouble.
4. Because they are not association members, they tend to turn on the sound full day and night and the Association then cannot control them as they are not members and refused to listen to advices before.
5. Having said so, the Association maybe seem to have solve the problem by seeking help from a Fed Association Dato concerned unless something new pop up as it will certainly do as most of these BHs were build at no BH zone.

My posting of the case is to seek all non members to join your Association to give them strength and for your BHs' future. If suppose your BHs have similar problems and no Association will come forward to help as you are a non member, so what????? Getting YB ? Without combined strength, yours alone isn't sufficient to even get a horse to move.

Refrain from building one in problematic area as even as members, the Association may not be able to pull you out although the Association will certainly put an effoct to help you.

Always follow the guidelines and refrain from disturbing the peace of your neighbours and never think that the calm now may not become a storm tomorrow.

Just my opinion on the matter to share as someone did pm me on the subject on the best entrance for BH. So, wait no longer, join today for a better tomorrow for yourself, families and friends.