Food safety is everybody’s concern, and it is difficult to find anyone who has not encountered an unpleasant moment of food-borne illness at least once in their lifetime.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), infants and young children, the elderly as well as those immuno-compromised are particularly at risk of contracting common food-related diseases. While adults have a choice when it comes to food premises, the same could not be said for school canteens. Students are limited to purchase from school canteen operators or opt to bring food from home.
In 2015, the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) recorded a total number of 1,416 complaints relating to food safety with losses amounting to millions. The majority of the complaints were on price disputes and the second largest percentage of complaints were relating to the quality of food which is alarming and requires serious attention.
Issues under food quality include finding foreign objects such as insects or plastics, expired food and contaminated food served to customers resulting in food poisoning.
While relevant acts such as the Food Act 1983 and the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009 are in place, a stronger penalty is needed against irresponsible food vendors. The authorities should not tolerate repeated offences and should terminate their contract or ban vendors from operating.
The same punishment should be applied to other food premises around the country as it appears to be that warnings alone on taking action does not seem to change the behaviour of these stubborn operators. In addition, training and refresher courses should be mandatory for all workers including foreign workers despite the language barrier.
A good education at all levels of individuals in food preparation would create awareness on the importance of food hygiene. In addition education and awareness sessions all members of school community - students, teachers and even parents should be approached continuously and aggressively.
From a young age, students should be taught on how to identify food that is potentially contaminated. Examples would include presences of flies, food left open, and even presence of rats in the premises. Parents play a role model in guiding their children to dine only in good-rated restaurant or making a quick observation on the cleanliness of the premise.
One should not solely depend on the authorities to make regular checks in all our schools and restaurants. Instead the responsibility should be shared by the community. For schools, a committee should be established and be represented by teachers and voluntary participation of parents to monitor and regularly check the cleanness of school canteen and hostel kitchen. This also includes observing and reporting poor hygiene practices in food preparation.
The Health Ministry can provide guidelines to the school community and oversee this committee.
In a nutshell, all parties play a part when it comes to food safety, from the place of primary production up to placing on the market or export. Every food business operator along the food chain should ensure that food safety is not compromised and therefore necessary steps should be taken in ensuring food operators are responsible for the food they prepare.
SHABANA NASEER is senior manager, legal and policy, Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca)/National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC).
