Category: Food EN

We refer to the statement by Datuk Dr. Kamarudin Md. Isa, Director-General of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), which appeared in the dailies on May 16th 2016. Dr Kamarudin had said that ‘there are no plans to ban the use of antibiotics in the poultry industry’ as ‘no scientific research has proved that humans can suffer negative effects of antibiotics from eating meat’. Since...

In 2008 in China, melamine was illegally added to some powdered milk and related dairy products including infant formula. Melamine is an industrial chemical used mainly in the production of plastics, primarily for counter tops, utensils, fabric, adhesives and flame retardants. And why was melamine added to the milk and infant formula? To increase the nitrogen content of the milk and therefore its...

The furore over the banning of shrimp and prawns from Malaysia by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) because it contained banned antibiotics drew bizarre responses some bordering on the absurd. The fact is the two antibiotics Chloramphenicol and Nitrofurans are banned for use in Malaysia since 1985. Yet they continue to pop up in our farmed fisheries and farmed meat products....

We wish to respond to the article "Securing our food supply with GM crops" by Dr. Hoe-Han Goh published in the New Straits Times on 14 November 2015. Dr. Goh extolled the benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops in several countries, but his article failed to provide the full picture and we seek to address this important gap. In the case of India, after 10 years of Bt cotton (a GM cotton)...

Restrictions or outright bans on the production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) exist in many countries worldwide. Yet Malaysia has approved eight genetically modified (GM) maize/corn products and six GM soybean products for food, feed and processing purposes. Besides these, approvals have also been given for the field trials of GM mosquitoes, papaya, and release of GM products for use...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang commends the health authorities for taking a bold move in closing down dirty restaurants in the state. Every year more than a thousand offences are recorded. This should not be the case anymore. We should aim for zero offences. According to our survey on food outlets, we found poor hygienic conditions not only in restaurants, but also in hawker stalls,...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang commends the Health Authorities in Penang for taking a bold move in closing down dirty food factories in the state. A similar crackdown should be carried out nationwide. Food safety should not be taken lightly. However CAP feels that compounds and closures serve neither to stop errant owners from repeating their mistakes nor as an effective deterrent to...