Despite our fertile soil and favourable agricultural policies, Malaysia only produces about 40% of the vegetables we need for local consumption. — Photos: Filepic
IN this month’s column, we talk about food, glorious food.
Food fulfils our most fundamental biological needs – keeping us alive, nourished and healthy.
Food also represents our identity – forming important parts of our heritage, traditions and culture.
Food can unite us or divide us into different camps based on which hawker dish we prefer!
Public policies on food are important to Malaysia.
It is also timely to discuss them now as Malaysia has banned several food exports (like live and frozen chickens) since June 1 (2022) due to food shortages locally, and because World Food Safety Day was celebrated on June 7 (2022).
We will consider three aspects of food policies as they relate to health: food security, food safety and food labelling.
Food security means that there is enough food for everyone.
Food safety means that the available food is safe for consumption and will not cause diseases.
Food labelling means the nutrition and ingredients labels that we see on cans and packages in supermarkets, for example.
Food security
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) notes that there are four dimensions of food security:
- That food must be physically available (physical)
- That people must be able to afford the food (economic)
- That people must be nourished by the food (“food utilisation”); and
- That the first three dimensions must be stable over time (“stability”).
Food insecurity is when any of the four dimensions are not met for a person or a group of people for any period of time (with the exceptions of intentional fasting, diets or medical needs).
Some statistics will help us understand food security in Malaysia.
One, agriculture is not sizeable in Malaysia, accounting for only 8% of our GDP (gross domestic product), but 11% of our total workforce (in comparison, services is the largest sector accounting for 54% of GDP and 53% of the workforce).
Two, a significant part of our agricultural production are non-food items, like palm oil and rubber.
Three, Malaysia imported food worth RM55 billion in 2020 alone, and this number is expected to rise with our depreciating ringgit and global supply chain disruptions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
That RM55bil includes animal feed, vegetable seeds and other raw food ingredients, not just finished products.
According to a Mardi (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) report, Malaysia only produces 71% of the rice we need, 66% of the fruits we need, and 40% of the vegetables we need.
These numbers can be considered low, especially since Malaysia is blessed with fertile soil and abundant water for agriculture, with significant government subsidies and support provided by various government agencies since the 1960s.
The health dimensions of food security are quite straightforward to understand on three levels.
Firstly, food insecurity may lead to inadequate calorie intake, where a person doesn’t eat enough to meet minimum energy requirements.
This causes hunger, unwanted weight loss, lethargy and overall increased risk of diseases.
Secondly, food insecurity may also cause a condition called “micronutrient malnutrition”.
Micronutrients are elements that are required by human beings in small amounts in food, such as cobalt (for vitamin B12), iodine (for the thyroid) and zinc (to stabilise DNA and RNA).
Thirdly and paradoxically, food insecurity may cause obesity.
A 2012 study of 67,000 adults in the United States showed that food-insecure adults had a 32% increased odds of being obese, compared to food-secure adults.
The theory is that food insecure adults are more likely to eat low-cost and high-energy foods (like fast food, instant noodles or junk food), causing over-consumption of energy.
Food-insecure adults may also have limited knowledge, time and resources, compared to food-secure adults.
There are many important recommendations to achieve food security in Malaysia.
One useful resource is a 2019 Khazanah Research Institute report called Achieving Food Security for All Malaysians, written by Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Tan Zhai Gen and Jarud Romadan Khalidi.
Food safety
Food labelling is important to ensure that we know exactly what we are eating.
Malaysians think about food all the time, but we don’t really think of food safety.
Indeed, as mentioned earlier, there is even an International World Food Safety Day marked on June 7 every year.
In Malaysia, there are many authorities in charge of food safety, with the Food Act 1983, the Food Regulations 1985 and the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009 being the most important laws.
The Health Ministry has a Food Safety and Quality Division, and a National Food Safety and Nutrition Council.
The Veterinary Services Department regulates the import of live animals, poultry and livestock.
The Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Section (Maqis) regulates the import of milk and milk products.
The Fisheries Department regulates the import of fish.
And the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) is involved in regulating halal food, while local councils are involved in licensing and inspections.
These are very many government agencies involved in ensuring the safety of food products.
These agencies work mostly in the traditional food establishments of restaurants, hawker centres, and even the annual Pasar Ramadan, requiring licenses, permits and inspections.
However, there are emerging consumer trends of preparing food like baked goods at home for sale, home catering services and part-time private chefs that may need new regulations.
Food safety is definitely important, but it cannot be the sole responsibility of the government.
In other words, both consumers and kitchen staff alike must play their role in ensuring that food is safe, hygienic and nutritious.
If there are genuine concerns about food safety, the public can complain to their local councils, to the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s centralised complaints website, to the local district health office, or to the National Consumer Complaints Centre (an initiative of ERA Consumer, the Selangor and Federal Territories Consumers Association, and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry).
Food labelling
The Malaysian Food Regulations 1985 and the Food Irradiation Regulations 2011 specify clear instructions for package labels on food products.
A typical food label has three main information categories: the ingredients used in the food item, the nutritional content and the manufacturers’ details.
Other familiar information would be the expiry date, the presence of genetically-modified food or other sensitive ingredients, or substances that can cause allergies.
All of this information is important, and package labels have evolved over time to reach today’s current requirements.
It is necessary for package labels to continue improving over time, because nutrition labels are a relatively new legal concept.
Up until the 1960s, there was little information on food packages that identified the ingredients or nutritional value.
Only in 1969, during a US White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health was the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked to “consider developing a system for identifying the nutritional qualities of food”.
Note the use of the words “consider developing”, rather than “go develop now”.
The same conference stated: “Every manufacturer should be encouraged to provide truthful nutritional information about his products to enable consumers to follow recommended dietary regimens.”
Note the use of the words “should be encouraged”, rather than “must be mandated to”.
Over time, the range of information on nutrition labels was expanded.
There were two sides, with doctors and regulators wanting more information on labels, and companies, Big Food and Big Agriculture wanting less information on labels.
This inherent debate between the two sides continues to play out in nutrition and food labelling efforts around the world.
Fortunately, the trend is clearly towards more information on nutrition labels, rather than less.
Some parts of the debate can be very minute, such as the font type and font size in the food labels, with one side wanting large fonts and the other side protesting that there’s not enough space.
At its core, this is a fundamental consumer right to know what we are eating and drinking.
And it has health implications too, because we should know what we are consuming.
The complexities of food
This column has only barely scratched the surface of three complex issues concerning the public policies of food.
Other experts have opined more deeply on each of these complex issues, and there should be more reading and debates on the right food policies for Malaysia.
Dr Khor Swee Kheng is a physician specialising in health policies and global health. He tweets as @DrKhorSK. The views expressed here are entirely his own. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
