PUTRAJAYA, Sept 6- The Health Ministry and Education Ministry are jointly carrying out programmes to reduce the alarming increase in food poisoning cases, especially in primary schools.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said a comprehensive action plan on safety and quality of food would be prepared by the Education Ministry and related agencies.
Dr Subramaniam said of the 291 food poisoning cases reported till July this year, 81 cases involved 2,452 students from a total of 32,091 students who were exposed to such situations.
“Last year (2012), 454 food poisoning cases were reported throughout the country and from the total, 115 cases happened in schools. It was found that cases in review showed that food was prepared in canteens or kitchens in hostels where 4,117 students suffered from food poisoning,” he told reporters after attending a national level clean canteens awards ceremony, here, Thursday.
Also present was Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan.
Dr Subramaniam said based on initial reports, the main factor for food poisoning was contamination of raw material, unhygienic utensils and people involved in preparation of food, long holding time, short preparation time which results in uncooked food (undercooked) and problems in frozen food.
He said among the main menu that involved food poisoning were nasi lemak, chicken rice, fried chicken, fried noodles, fish sambal and curry.
“Among action taken by the ministry is to monitor and inspect the level of cleanliness and hygiene in canteens and hostel kitchens,” he said.
Dr Subramaniam said as of June this year, 7,224 school canteens were inspected and 98 of them were ordered to be closed for lack of cleanliness and hygiene.
– BERNAMA
