October 26, 2022

 

Malaysian consumers' association calls for probe on poultry farms over food safety standards

The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the Malaysian authorities to probe all of the country's poultry farms over food safety standards after neighbouring Singapore recalled Malaysian eggs due to the presence of salmonella enteritidis (SE), Free Malaysia Today reported.

 

Mohideen Abdul Kadir, CAP President, said an investigation is required to make sure that poultry farms adhere to food safety laws.

 

Mohideen urged the authorities to investigate the chickens' rearing practises because they may have contributed to the salmonella contamination.

 

He said that while SE can be killed by heat, it can survive in raw and undercooked eggs, leading to food-borne illnesses like diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting.

 

Despite the fact that it's believed that 30 million eggs are consumed daily in Malaysia, he said, it is strange that such an incident was not discovered by our local authorities earlier, adding that it is possible that many Malaysian consumers unknowingly consumed contaminated eggs.

 

In addition, Mohideen requested the formation of a committee to look into the "weaknesses of our monitoring system" in terms of food safety.

 

He asserted that Malaysia "rarely hears" of local produce being recalled despite the existence of laws like the Food Act 1983, Food Regulations 1985, and Food Hygiene Regulations 2009.

 

He noted that over the previous seven years, the US, China, and Singapore had all rejected Malaysian produce due to health and safety concerns, including everything from vegetables to prawns.

 

These factors include the presence of banned antibiotics, pesticide and sulphur dioxide levels that exceed foreign agency limits, and pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common bacterium found in sewage, soil, water, and faeces.

 

He said Malaysia's food safety monitoring is insufficient, as evidenced by the recurrent reports from foreign authorities on unsafe Malaysian food products.

 

-      Free Malaysia Today