Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's today suggested that the bread produced by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's bakery - The Loaf - may not have tasted good.

He said this could be among several reasons that led to the closure of all of its 12 branches in the country.

"There is one person who opened a bakery (chain), 12 branches in 12 years. But when he suffered losses from selling bread, he blamed it on the economy.

"But other bakeries have been doing well. Rotiboy is doing well, Gardenia is doing well even those selling “mee rebus” are doing well.

"If a business is not doing well or closes down, is it the government's fault? Perhaps the bread didn't taste good or the cost was too high. There could be many reasons," he said.

Najib said the attempt to blame the government for the closure of such bakeries was a form of "fake news".

Even though Najib did not name Mahathir, he appeared to be responding to the Pakatan Harapan chairperson who claimed that under Najib, not only did his bakeries close down but other major companies have also left the country.

Mahathir previously claimed he tried to sell The Loaf operation to fund his general election campaign but the taxman went after the potential buyer.