Expired food used in cooked food supply programme in boarding schools, reveals audit

PUTRAJAYA: Dry ingredients used in the cooked food supply (BMB) programme in some boarding schools had expired for as long as 427 days, the third series of the Auditor-General's Report 2018 found.

The report said that in a physical audit done from February to March 2019, it found that 28 dry ingredients in 13 out of 42 school samples had no expiration dates and had food that had expired, ranging from one to 427 days.

"This is because there was no inspection done by the contractor or the dormitory supervisor on the expired stocks and the stock production methods used by the contractors that did not use the ‘First In First Out’ (FIFO) concept.

"This can cause food poisoning among the students," stated the report which was released on Tuesday (July 14).

The report noted that the audit involved the evaluation of the BMB programme from 2016 to 2018, covering two main audit areas which are its performance and programme management.

It noted that the audit was conducted at the Education Ministry level and three state Education Departments as well as on 42 boarding schools in Sabah, Kelantan and Johor.

The allocation channeled for the programme during that period amounted to RM3.667bil.

Apart from expired food, the report also found that among others, ingredients and the menu were changed without the written approval from the school principal 24 hours in advance, inadequate raw food supplies, and the storage for surplus fish that were not fresh.

It also noted that the brand of the dry food ingredients that was supplied was different from the ones that was stipulated in the contract, adding that it also did not have the approval of the school's administrator.

The report also found that some dry food had no halal logo, and that there were also dry foods that had passed its expiration date and contained foreign matter in it ranging from ants, dust and powder.

It also said that it found monosodium glutamat (MSG) and condensed milk in the schools which were not allowed under the contract.