‘No fake eggs on sale here’

PETALING JAYA: Eggs sold in the Malaysian markets are genuine and safe for consumption, says the Health Ministry.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there was no cause for concern, adding that the video clips on the fake eggs that went viral on social media were untrue.

“We conducted an investigation and found that there were no fake eggs sold in the markets,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The clip went viral a few weeks ago after a woman, who boiled eggs she had purportedly bought from a supermarket in the Klang Valley, found that the texture of the yolk was “rubbery”.

The National Consumer Com­plaints Centre (NCCC) legal and dispute resolution manager Santhosh Kannan said authorities grading eggs should be held accountable if any fake egg was found in the market.

“Unless checks can be done at every level, it can’t be assured that all eggs are genuine,” he said. “So far, we have yet to receive any complaint from consumers over fake eggs,” he said.

Santhosh said the process of grading of eggs would have detected any anomaly before they were sold over the counter.

“There are various egg suppliers and different grades of eggs across the country,” he said.

“If there were any irregularities in the eggs, the authorities grading the eggs would have detected them.”

Santhosh said the procedure in egg grading, supply and distribution was not made known to the public.

With reports of fake eggs surfacing again, he said the authorities should be transparent over the matter. “This is to clear any doubt over the matter.”

The reports of fake eggs first came about in Malaysia three years ago when a housewife in Penang lodged a complaint with the Consumers Association of Penang.