Questionable food hygiene standards

FOOD poisoning has become a public health problem in Malaysia and among the top five communicable diseases in this country.

An alarming increase in food poisoning cases, including in school settings, should have triggered an immediate response from public health authorities.

However, the lack of preventive measures rather than reactive enforcement shows a disturbing degree of apathy.

In the first half of 2024 alone, numerous incidents have been reported, emphasising the urgency of addressing this issue.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) recently said that not enough attention was given to hygiene and food handling.

Cases have been on the rise after the pandemic, MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said, adding that Health Ministry data showed cases were now more common, with 51 incidents recorded for every 100,000 people in Malaysia in 2023.

“This is more than double the rate of 18.4 incidents in 2021. One area we are most concerned about is food handling in the country,” she noted.

She said that the standards of food hygiene, in particular at street food outlets, needed to be improved.

“It is not uncommon to see no separation in the handling of food and money. In many outlets, food is being prepared in unhygienic conditions while many food stalls and caterers are known to be operating illegally. The list goes on, but what are the authorities doing about it?

“Occasionally, a restaurant is closed by the authorities and the owner is slapped with a fine. But we see no improvement. Everyone closes one eye and carries on,” she added.

I was a victim of food poisoning on a recent trip to Penang. I had breakfast at a popular roti canai stall and noticed that food was being prepared next to an open drain.

I thought nothing of it as this stall was a favourite on social media. Cue an extremely uncomfortable and painful next two days as I experienced classic food poisoning symptoms – diarrhoea and vomiting.

I wanted to report this stall to the authorities and tried using the Health Ministry’s official portal, myhealth.moh.gov.my. This official portal has a section on food poisoning with an FAQ as well as statistics, but this is ridiculously outdated with the last update in April 2012!

I agree with Dr Azizan, who says that the Health Ministry must prioritise looking into these issues as food poisoning can have fatal consequences.

She believes that all food operators must be properly educated on the standards of food hygiene, while premises where food is prepared should be regularly inspected by the authorities.

In July, the National Poison Centre (NPC) said the number of food poisoning cases in Malaysia has increased, mostly involving children aged below four.

NPC chief pharmacist Sulastri Samsudin said the centre has encountered an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 cases in 2024 alone.

In June, a food poisoning outbreak at a community school programme in Selangor resulted in two fatalities while 82 out of 247 attendees who consumed a catered breakfast of noodles and fried eggs experienced symptoms including diarrhoea, stomach pain, fever, vomiting and nausea.

It is appalling that we are a trillion-dollar economy, yet there is a continued recurrence of unhygienic practices throughout the country.

As the fight for tourism dollars intensifies in South-East Asia, we should not underestimate the importance of proper hygiene and cleanliness as we position Malaysia as a foodie destination.

“Delhi belly” is the traveller’s diarrhoea that ruins thousands of vacations every year and is associated with the capital of India, which is notorious for poor hygiene and cleanliness.

It is an exaggeration, no doubt, for Kuala Lumpur or even Penang to one day have such a reputation, but inaction by the authorities as food poisoning cases rise will give Malaysia an unwanted reputation.

Reputation aside, the economic effect in terms of productivity and cost of healthcare to treat food poisoning should not be underestimated.

Local authorities should step up checks at all restaurants, food courts and hawker stalls. These establishments must adhere to certain health standards and must be shut down immediately if basic hygiene practices are found lacking. This includes, food handling, cooking equipment and sanitary surroundings.

The Health Ministry must prioritise looking into these issues to prevent more food poisoning incidents.

“Via digitalisation, the ministry should also monitor and send reminders to food and beverage sellers concerning their typhoid vaccination status.

“We urge the government to audit all typhoid vaccinations given to food handlers as there are unregistered typhoid vaccines in the market being used by unscrupulous parties,” Dr Azizan said.

I, for one, would like to see more publicly available data. How many foreign workers are in the food and beverage sector, and how many have been given the necessary vaccination?

The public should be able to access a food operator’s records which indicate its level of cleanliness as well as warnings or even past closures due to food poisoning cases.

An open access forum would mean more public scrutiny and less opportunities for corruption at the local authority level.