KUCHING: Following Singapore’s recall of eggs from a Malaysian farm due to the presence of salmonella enteritidis (SE), the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has urged officials to investigate all chicken farms in the nation.
According to CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kadir, an inquiry is required to make sure that chicken farms adhere to food safety laws.
Mohideen issued a statement in which he urged the authorities to investigate rearing practices since they might have led to the salmonella infection.
“While SE may be eradicated by heat, it can live in uncooked or raw eggs, leading to food-borne diseases such diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, fever, nausea.
“Although it is believed that 30 million eggs are consumed daily in Malaysia, it is unusual that such an incidence had not been reported to the authorities there sooner,” he said on Tuesday (Oct 25).
“Given the circumstances, a lot of Malaysian customers could have unintentionally eaten tainted eggs.”
A committee to look into the “weaknesses of our monitoring system” with reference to food safety was also requested by Mohideen.
Despite having legislations like the Food Act 1983, the Food Regulations 1985, and the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009, he claimed that Malaysia “rarely hears” of local food being recalled.
He emphasised that over the previous seven years, the US, China, and Singapore had all rejected different Malaysian products due to health and safety concerns, including vegetables and prawns.
These factors include the presence of forbidden drugs, the presence of the common bacteria pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is present in sewage, soil, water, and feces, as well as pesticide levels and sulphur dioxide levels that exceed limits established by international authorities, according to a report by Free Malaysia Today.
“Our food safety monitoring is insufficient,” he stated, citing the ongoing reports from foreign agencies on dangerous Malaysian food items.
