SHAH ALAM, March 4 — The results of the analysis of samples of food believed to have been contaminated, resulting in 78 staff of the Anesthesiology Department of the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) suffering food poisoning, will be known in one week.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry will take stern action including suspending the licence of the catering company if it is proven that the food poisoning case resulted from the food consumed by the staff.

"From what happened, it appears to be a case of food poisoning. This is because all those who ate at the event suffered food poisoning and this must be from a single source,” he said.

Subramaniam was speaking to reporters after officiating the new building of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) Sungai Renggam here today.

In the incident on Feb 28, HTAR staff suffered food poisoning after eating food at a department meeting and early investigations found that it was believed to have been caused by food provided by a private caterer from outside the hospital. — Bernama