DESPITE a recall issued by the authorities here, only three people who bought Nong Shim's shrimp crackers have asked for a refund from its importer.

South Korea's largest processed food maker issued an apology last Tuesday after a suspected rat's head - deep fried - was found in a bag of its shrimp crackers there.

The company has shut down production of the crackers and taken them off the shevles across South Korea.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) here ordered its local importer, KMG Enterprise, to stop selling all Nong Shim shrimp crackers and advised consumers who have bought the products to discard them.

Mr Koh Puay Sin, 58, general manager of KMG Enterprise and director of Korean minimart Sol Mart, said the two kinds of shrimp crackers it sells in Singapore - spicy and non-spicy - are not of the same variety as the one that is now under investigation.

While he was unable to explain the difference, he said he has been assured by his Korean partner that the shrimp crackers imported into Singapore are 'different items from the one that is in trouble'.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.