Two Penang food processing factories ordered shut

BALIK PULAU: Two premises - a shrimp paste processing factory and a soy sauce factory - were ordered to close for two weeks due to unhygienic conditions and non-compliance with food safety and quality standards during an operation conducted by the Penang Health Department.

The department’s Food Safety and Quality Division (BKKM) Environmental Health officer, Mohd Wazir Khalid said that the two factories were issued four compounds totalling RM10,000.

He said the raid on the shrimp paste processing factory in Pantai Acheh, at 10am on Tuesday (Dec 28) found the premise, which had been operating for over 50 years, kept a stock of old shrimp paste filled with maggots in the same container as the freshly produced paste.

"Checks also revealed that some of the shrimp paste, which was supposed to expire in 2024, had already gone bad and kept to be sold to their suppliers.

"The factory was also caught using a fake halal logo.

"The factory was raided in 2019 for the same offence but still failed to maintain cleanliness,” he said in a press conference here on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, during checks at a soy sauce processing factory at Jalan Batu Maung here, health officers also found rat droppings on the floor, as well as cobwebs inside the soybean fermentation containers.

"The factory owner was instructed to carry out cleaning and pest control with an accredited company," he said, adding 14-day closure notice orders were issued under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983 for the two premises effective on Tuesday. - Bernama