A trip to DXN

After following on a BAKAS field trip to observe “tandas curah” and a 29 year old water pump, we left for another field trip with the Food Quality Control department to the DXN GanoDerma factory in Bukit Wang, about 11km from Jitra.
We arrived at 11.00pm and were ushered into the administrative lobby, we then went to the storage warehouse to meet Mr. Mohd Noor, the Environmental Health Assistant Officer from Food Quality Control Department.
He explained that when(in this case), the factory requests for a Health Certificate, the DHO will send its team to collect samples of the product. Usually 3 samples are collected for each batch of products:
1. The Accredited lab.
2. District Health Office.
3. Factory.
This is done for cross-referencing later on. Among the test done are:
1. pH.
2. Moisture.
3. Total Plate Count(TPC).
4. Heavy Metal( Lead, Mercury, Arsenic)
5. Microorganisms.
The lab results are obtained within 2 weeks and the Health Certificate is produced within a week if all conditions are met, so the entire process is done in 3 weeks. The cost is about RM 80 which is paid by the applicant.
The health certificate is necessary for exporting purposes.




After that we were invited for a ”Plant Tour”, Mr Lim Beng Tuan, the Senior Administrative Executive.
The company’s name is DXN Industries SDN. BHD. Started operations in 1995 as a plantation and was formally registered on the 20 November 1996. This site was opened in 1997. This plant has 730 workers and covers an area of 48 hectares. The company’s other plants are in Indonesia, China, and India.
DXN produces pharmaceutical, food, drinks, and cosmetic products which are exported to 22 countries around the world.

At the start of the tour we were brought to its plantation zone. This is where we first saw the preparation for seeding using sawdust and rice bran. Daily 5000 seeding bags are autoclaved for 2 hours at 125 °C and 11 PSI. It is then cooled down for a day before the spore is inserted in the polybag. The seeding room is kept clean, even unhealthy workers are not allowed in.
The mushrooms are then grown in cabins. There are 124 cabins of which only 4 are opened for tours. Each cabin has 21000 spores. The humidity and temperature are closely monitored. The mushrooms are harvested at about 3 months.
We were then taken to the pharmaceutical production line, where we were told that no photos were to be taken, as these were supposed to be company secrets. We saw how the different products were produced and packaged. At the end of the line we were given 4 sample tablets to try.
We then went to the food and beverage production line, followed by the cosmetic line where we were told about the company getting its “halal” certification by JAKIM.
At the end we were each given some free samples that are yet on the market.

PIC 1: at the autoclave

PIC 2: caffeine products

PIC 3: tablets given to us

PIC 4: production line

PIC 5: with Mr Lim

PIC 6: Tandas curah

PIC 7: Water pump

PIC 8: Culture cabin

PIC 9: Autoclave