NST : Plastics in food probe: Report these hawkers for action |
Written by Administrator |
Thursday, 10 September 2009 11:43 |
I REFER to the letter by M.S.R. of Johor Baru ("No action despite complaints" -- NST, March 24) alleging that hawkers fried snacks with their plastic wrappers and that this posed a health risk to consumers. The Health Ministry is investigating this matter. Samples of frying oil and snacks (for example, fried bananas, keropok lekor) are being analysed by the Chemistry Department. Preliminary results do not show the presence of plastic materials. More samples are being analysed and the results will be available soon. The ministry would appreciate it if the public could alert health authorities of such negligent practices. Consumers should exercise their right to boycott the vendors of such food. By : NORAINI MOHD OTHMAN, Director, Food Safety and Quality Division Health Ministry From frying pan into the fire THE Consumers Association of Penang is concerned over the recent complaint about a trader at a pasar tani in Larkin, Johor Baru, using plastic in the oil used for preparing potato chips. These cases come hot on the heels of a report where a factory in Kepala Batas was closed down for violating various health regulations, including using recycled oil for cooking and storing cooking oil in unhygienic recycled plastic containers. Other researchers have also linked the consumption of heated oils to adverse effects in animals, including retardation in growth, liver damage, diarrhoea and even death. March 27, 2008 Food shock: No action despite complaintsI READ with disgust the report on plastics in frying oil. Here, I wish to record what I saw at the pasar tani on Saturdays in Larkin, Johor Baru. I was at a stall buying mushrooms when I saw this man at the next stall frying snacks at the back of his stall. THE Consumers Association of Penang is concerned over the recent complaint about a trader at a pasar tani in Larkin, Johor Baru, using plastic in the oil used for preparing potato chips. He was scruffy looking, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he dipped a bag of fries in the hot oil. What was left in his hand was only the top of the bag. The rest of the bag was in the oil. His ladle for scooping out the fried items had pieces of plastic stuck to it and so did the frying pan. I was shocked. He saw me watching him and commenting to the mushroom seller, yet he nonchalantly went on with his work. I warned friends who were at the stall not to buy from him and his assistants. My husband and I lodged a complaint with the authorities. When the Johor Baru City Council had its open day at the same venue last year, I again brought up this issue. A few weeks later, I received two letters of acknowledgement thanking me for the information and concern. Both letters assured me that it would take action. I was impressed and hopeful, but that's as far as they got in taking any action. To date, there has not been any change. Every time I am at the pasar tani, this man, who is still selling there, gives me a good hard look, with a smirk on his face as he continues to do what he was doing eight months ago. By : M.S.R., Johor Baru - 24 March 2008 Plastics shock: Punish them appropriately I REFER to the letter "No action despite complaints" (NST, March 24) which described how some hawkers in Johor Baru, dip potato chips and plastic wrappers into oil. It is common knowledge that plastics is a factor in cancer-related health risk, more so if absorbed into the body. These unscrupulous traders should be punished appropriately for putting the public at risk. We would be grateful if the Health Ministry, together with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, could take action to counter this public health menace. By : TAM YONG YUEE, Muar - 25 March 2008
|
NCCC NEW OFFICE
National Consumer Complaints Centre | |||||||||||
|