KUALA SELANGOR: The Health Ministry is accelerating efforts to strengthen food safety control at all levels to achieve the target of less than 50 cases of food poisoning per 100,000 population by the year 2030.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the target encompasses the industry, public food premises and educational institutions, in line with the National Food Safety Action Plan 2024-2030 and the National Food Safety Policy 2.0.
He said to achieve this, traders need to prioritise food hygiene and safety aspects as well as ensure food sold is clean, of quality and safe to consume.
"The public is encouraged to practice the concept of 'Observe and Choose' by selecting clean premises and prioritising food quality. Consumers are also advised to practice the simple steps of 'Look, Smell, Taste' before enjoying their iftar to reduce the risk of food poisoning," he said.
He said this at the 2026 National Ramadan Bazaar and launch of the Hygiene and Food Campaign at the Ramadan Bazaar Lotus’s Kuala Selangor here on Saturday (Feb 21).
In the meantime, Dzulkefly said that the monitoring of the safety and cleanliness of Ramadan bazaars began early this month through the cooperation of all State Health Departments (JKN) with local authorities (PBTs) to obtain information on the sites and the number of stalls operating.
"To date, more than 200 sessions on hygiene and safe food handling have been organised, involving stall owners from 77,583 stalls at 1,274 Ramadan bazaar sites nationwide.
"Additionally, inspections of food preparation premises before Ramadan also included restaurants and hotels that provide iftar buffets. A total of 426 inspections have also been conducted on ice factories, restaurants and hotels," he said.
Meanwhile, he said only one complaint related to the cleanliness of a Ramadan bazaar was recorded in two days of fasting through the Public Complaints Management System (SiSPAA).
In addition, he reminded business premises owners found selling stale food throughout Ramadan will face compound actions under the Food Act 1983, while warning that action will be taken against Ramadan bazaar traders detected committing offences.
In other developments, Dzulkefly said that the supply of medicines is guaranteed to be sufficient even with a slight increase in new tuberculosis (TB) cases detected nationwide.
The media today reported that 596 new cases of TB were detected nationwide up to the sixth Epidemiological Week of this year (ME6/2026), bringing the total number of cases to 3,161 so far.
Dzulkefly also advised the public to practice proper coughing and sneezing etiquette and to ensure good ventilation in enclosed spaces.
He once again emphasised that Ramadan is not the cause of the disease's spread, but the increase in social activities and gatherings throughout this month generally enhances interactions among the community.- Bernama
