122 operators suspended, 22 put out of business
PUTRAJAYA: Dirty school canteens were responsible for about half the 311 food poisoning cases reported nationwide last year.
Even more shocking is that a committee set up in 2008 to monitor food served in school canteens suspended 122 operators and put 22 others out of business after checking 150 premises.
“It is appalling. School canteen operators must ensure that their food is prepared under strict hygienic conditions,” Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said at the Clean School Canteen Awards 2010 yesterday.
He said investigations revealed that most contamination occurred during the storage, transportation and serving of food.
“There were 88 incidents where the food served to students had shown early signs of going stale, with nasi lemak the main problem.” He said a special joint Education Ministry-Health Ministry committee was set up in 2008 to tackle the problem of food poisoning in schools.
The committee, chaired by the deputy ministers of both ministries, monitors the quality and safety of school canteen food and the cleanliness of school premises.
“The canteen food menu is also being monitored and inspected regularly by the committee,” said Liow, adding that it was this committee that had checked the canteens and suspended or put out of business 144 of 150 operators.
On another matter, Liow said poultry and pork produce imported from Germany had been found to be free of dioxin contamination.
The ministry imposed a Level Four surveillance on meat and meat produce from all countries at all entry points following a dioxin scare in Germany in January.
The imports were analysed by the Malaysia Food Safety Information System, which checked samples from consignments before they were allowed into the local market. - By Koi Kye Lee, kklee@nst.com.my
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