Category: Food EN

During the Japanese Occupation, when food was scarce, the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) became a staple food for many Malaysians. Unfortunately, since then many people have come to regard sweet potato as food for the poor, and as such think that it has little nutritional value. This is not true at all. Sweet potatoes are rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals. Do you know: The B vitamins found in...

The government should get its act together over the confusion on the palm cooking oil, chicken and eggs subsidy issue. One very clear example was the announcement reported in the media on 23 June 2022 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who said that the subsidy for cooking oil in bottles of 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg will be stopped from 1 July. However, on the same day the media...

While the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) welcomes the chicken export from 1 June we regret that our past warnings to the authorities about food insecurity dangers had fallen on deaf ears. Failure to revamp the entire agricultural policy which includes a total review of the food production and distribution chain is responsible for the current crisis. In 2018, we echoed the concerns of...

EAT FOR EARTH (Part 3), last in a 3-part series Food is fundamental to life. But the things we eat are fuelling some of the greatest threats to humanity’s survival. A growing body of evidence has found our industrialised food production systems are a source of pollution, a contributor to climate change and a cause of biodiversity loss. You can help change that, though. The United Nations...

EAT FOR EARTH (Part 2) The food choices we make every day have a big effect on the environment. Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. These greenhouses gases include nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which all contribute to climate change and global warming. Livestock – animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs – contribute to the emissions. The main...

EAT FOR EARTH (Part 1) The science tells us we need to slash the meat and dairy to help tackle climate change. Here’s what New Zealand has found. IN A 2020 STUDY, University of Otago researchers developed a New Zealand-specific food emissions database for 346 commonly eaten foods. The database calculated the total emissions for each food and considered each part of the food’s lifecycle, such...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) urges the government to make public its investigation into food cartels because their existence in the food distribution system will further jeopardize the country’s food insecurity that we are experiencing for decades. One major setback is that Malaysia is importing nearly 60 per cent of the food it needs, making it highly vulnerable to food shortages...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) calls on the relevant authorities to introduce the Halal Haram Act. The Act will help to ensure that producers act more responsibly in labeling food products as Halal. Presently the burden of proving the Halal status of a product lies on the consumers. For more than 30 years CAP has been calling for the Halal Haram Act. There were several meetings...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) had warned the government about the dangers of food insecurity for many years and it has fallen on deaf ears, and a reluctance to revamp the entire agricultural policy which includes a total review of the food distribution chain. There have been talks floating around about the existence of cartels and middlemen who profited more than the farmers or the...

Lately Malaysians are being gobbled up by a meaty scandal. Many are rightfully livid, demanding justice be meted out to the unethical individuals who have been feeding Malaysians fake Halal meat that are not be Halal or  may have been mixed with diseased kangaroo and horse meat. But what is coming in the pipeline is even more shocking. Impossible Foods, the US-based fake meat maker that uses...