KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — A popular grocery store in the 1Utama shopping mall was ordered to close for 14 days after pictures and videos showing a large and fat rat among the boxes of milk on the shelves spread on the internet.

The Health Ministry confirmed the closure order on the grocery section of Aeon Co (M) Berhad with news portal Free Malaysia Today yesterday.

Pictures of the closure order, invoked under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983, which authorises the ministry to shut down any unsanitary premises for a maximum 14 days, have also been shared on Twitter and other social media channels.

According to the order, which took effect from 12 noon on March 31, only the store’s grocery section is affected.

The proprietor who fails to comply with the hygiene order can be punished with a jail term of up to five years or a fine, or both, if charged and convicted under the same law provision.

Aeon is one of the anchor tenants of the Petaling Jaya mall, said to be the country’s largest shopping centre and seventh largest in the world.