Year-long expired food found in navy stores

AUDIT REPORT Dry food rations for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) that had expired by almost a year were still kept at the RMN stores until they were discovered by the Auditor-General's Office.

According to the Auditor-General's Report 2012, examples of expired supplies included Knorr Chicken Essence cubes and Twinine Vinegar, which expired in September 2011 but were found in the stores in July 2012.

Furthermore, the report says, the rations were poorly stored and risked causing food poisoning among the navy personnel.

"The cleanliness of the rations kept at Wisma Samudera was affected because pests were found in the jelly and curry powder packaging, and could have caused food poisoning," the report reads.

On another audit visit to the KD Sultan Badlishah, the report says, vermicelli packaging was left open and exposed to pests.

However, the report notes, the shortcomings have since been rectified and the expired food disposed of following the audit last year.

The report also advises the Defence Ministry to ensure that the rations it orders for the RMN are properly labelled so that the expiry date can be identified.

It says the ministry had signed a contract that was worth significantly more than what it required in ration supplies.

Since the RMN signed a RM47.96 million contract for food rations in 2009, it had only dropped 28.1 percent down the contract value as of 2012, the report says.

In its reply, the ministry conceded this and said future contracts would be signed according to needs.