Health Ministry orders Kedai Rakyat to improve food items

By Melissa Chi

December 03, 2011

Customers at a Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia in Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur November 11, 2011.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Health Ministry has ordered Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M) outlets and their suppliers to correct labelling errors and comply with the food regulations law.

The order came following a meeting yesterday between Health director-general Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman and DAP's Tony Pua as well as PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar at the ministry, The Star reported today.

Dr Hasan said the ministry ordered all seven outlets to rectify errors found in seven products that were brought to the ministry’s attention by Pua last week and to make sure they comply with the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985.

“The ministry has investigated Pua’s claims and confirms the seven products did not comply with some of the regulations stipulated in the two laws that govern the food industry.

“We have asked KR1M outlets last week to make the necessary changes. We thank them (Pua and Nurul Izzah) for bringing up this matter,” Dr Hasan said, according to the English daily.

The seven products are ice-cream, mixed-fruit jam, evaporated milk, condensed creamer, canned sardines, canned curry chicken and instant whole milk powder.

Dr Hasan said the outlets had rectified its ice-cream labelling and changed it to frozen confection, and he expected the other rectifications to be made by next week.

“These complaints are not about the safety of the food but, rather, about the quality of food that does not measure up to (industrial) standards,” he pointed out.

Pua had said yesterday that the Health Ministry has admitted that some of the products sold at KR1M shops failed to meet legal requirements although it did not take any action against the supplier.

One of the Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia on display at Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur November 11, 2011.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers, led by Pua, Nurul Izzah and Dr Dzulkelfy Ahmad of PAS, had claimed seven products sold at the government-backed thrift store are of substandard quality, with some failing to meet legal requirements.

These include Growing Up milk powder, which the opposition said contained excessive amounts of vitamin A, which could lead to liver problems and reduced bone density in children.

Among the disputed items were products affixed with the label “ice cream” which has now been revised to read “frozen confection” to reflect their absence of fat content; fruit jam which do not carry an ingredient list on their bottles; and evaporated milk or unsweetened condensed milk, which should have been labelled as “evaporated milk creamer”.

Nurul Izzah, who was also at the meeting, said Dr Hasan had admitted that three out of every five cans of sardines sampled do not comply with the regulated fish content.

As for the Growing Up milk powder, Pua said Dr Hasan admitted its product label was misleading as it says low-fat milk solids in Malay but “instant whole milk powder” in English.

“We say that this milk powder lacks nutrients according to follow-on milk’s legal requirement. It is clear that it says follow-on milk is for six months to three years.

“Growing Up milk sold by Kedai Rakyat is for one year and above. So there is obviously an overlap of two years,” Pua said.

He said Dr Hasan told them that they are in the process of formulating the legal requirements for Growing Up milk as the vitamin A content is three times above the recommended content for children aged between one and two.

“So given that they have accepted (today), I hope the minister does his work and ensures compliance in all these products and others that we didn’t test. I can’t be testing every product,” Pua said yesterday.