IPOH, Aug 24 — The Health Ministry is taking a serious view of the food poisoning incidents in Perak, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said various measures had been taken not only to prevent food poisoning cases in Perak, but all over the country, including by conducting regular checks on school canteens and hostel kitchens through the “Clean Premises Operation” nationwide.
“The Health Ministry has taken note of the food poisoning incidents that occurred in Perak,” he said in a statement to Bernama here today.
Dr Noor Hisham was asked to comment on the call by Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir yesterday who wanted the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry to take immediate action to prevent food poisoning incidents in schools in the state from recurring.
A total of 10 food poisoning cases at schools across Perak were recorded so far this month, excluding the latest incident involving 52 male students of the Gopeng Matriculation College last Saturday.
The incident occurred only four days after 56 students of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar experienced similar problems.
Elaborating, Dr Noor Hisham said as of June 7 this year, a total of 1,063 checks were carried out at 757 school canteens and 306 hostel kitchens nationwide.
“Through the checks, 18 closure orders under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983 were issued.
“A total of 141 offence notices under Section 32B of the Food Act 1983 were issued to school canteen or hostel kitchen operators who failed to comply with the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009,” he said. — Bernama
