Food handlers must all be hygienic

I READ with concern the report “CAP: Families should look into healthy cooking” (Sunday Star, June 24), in which Assoc Prof Dr Siti Nursheena Mohd Zain was quoted on her study about the high prevalence of food poisoning bacteria on the hands of foreign workers in the food service industry.

While I do not question the accuracy of the data, I do take issue with the attempt to link her findings with the “local cooks only” rule that is being proposed by the Human Resources Minister. This link would only be valid if the study included a comparative look at local food handlers working under similar conditions as their foreign counterparts.