Lab test shows bacteria in 1M'sia milk, say Pakatan MPs

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua today revealed that fresh milk sold at the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) were allegedly tainted with E ccoli.

This, he said, was based an independent lab test on the product commissioned by Pakatan Rakyat.

E coli orEscherichia coliis a living bacterium that can exist in food that has not been cooked well enough and can cause serious illness or even death.

However, Pua declined to reveal the two labs that were engaged to do the tests, but stressed that they were credible.

“If the (Health) Ministry requests the lab reports, we will hand them over, but we don’t want the labs to get into trouble because their licences are from the Health Ministry,” he said.

Also present were Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Pua, together with Nurul Izzah, had on Wednesday claimed that the government had grossly exaggerated the potential savings from buying KR1M products.

However, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied the claim, stressing that the comparison should be apple-to-apple.

“Any comparison should be as a whole, taking into consideration weight, packaging and most importantly, quality,” Sabri has been quoted as saying.

‘Product can cause food poisoning’

Dzulkefly, who is a doctor by training, said the results were alarming as E Coli causes severe food poisoning.

“The coliform in the milk is also much higher than the permitted levels, and also causes the same effect,” he said.

However, the particular product appeared to have been discontinued, says Pua.

“We wanted to do more tests but you can’t find the milk any more since two to three weeks ago. Maybe they found out about it and withdrew it.

“We asked them (KR1M operator) but they say the milk is no longer available because they are changing operators.”

Conducting a live experiment in front of the Bandar Tun Razak KR1M, Pua revealed another eight products which went against the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985.

They are:

• Rich creamer - Lab test shows 9.07 percent of fat (Law requires at least 10 percent)

• Ghee - Label says contains palm oil (Law requires 100 percent animal fat)

• Ice cream - Lab test contains 8.87 percent of fat (Law requires at least 10 percent)

• Canned sardines - Live experiment shows Sardine meat is 37 percent of nett weight (Law requires at least 55 percent)

• Canned curry chicken - Live experiement shows chicken meat including potatoes is 54 percent of nett weight (Law requires at least 90 percent)

• Evaporated milk - Label says contains 6 percent milk fat (Law requires at least 8 percent)

• Oyster sauce - Lab test shows no oyster extract, only flavouring and protein levels at 0.6 percent (Law requires natural oyster extract and at least 2.5 percent protein)

• Pineapple jam - Lab tests shows 8.87 percent fruit (Law requires at least 35 percent)

Aside from these, Tony said several other products also breached the law by not having proper labelling.

‘Health Ministry must act’

“This is not just about the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, This is a health issue. I want to ask what has Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai done about this?

“Has his officers been conducting check on these products?... But how does the government check on its own products? Of course they must say their own products are good.”

Pua further pointed out that the breaches carried fines of up to RM100,000 and jail terms of up to 10 years.

“If the rakyat suffer food poisoning who is going to take responsibility? Can the minister be charged? The ministers have been promoting these products... there has to be ministerial accountability.”

Pua called on the government not to practice double standards and act against KR1M shops as they would against other businesses which breach the law.

Nurul also took to task the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) communication director Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman for encouraging the public to buy KR1M products, claiming that they were cheap and with quality.

“Have they done any test on the products?” she asked.

She added that today’s revelations were not meant to score political points but were intended to assist the government in ensuring the public’s health.

“We don’t want to expose the public to products that can endanger their health so the government should take this positively.”

Describing the products as “extremely irresponsible”, Dzulkefly said the most vulnerable groups would suffer as a result of this.

“Most of the people who visit the 1Malaysia shops come from low income families, how can we serve them with this kind of product?

“Compromising the health of the rakyat and food quality is not the way.”