KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 – Food safety is among the many public health functions of environmental health officers and assistant environmental health officers, or better known as health inspectors.
During the fasting month of Ramadan, health inspectors conduct inspections and enforcement of food safety in Ramadan bazaars.
Under the Kemaman district health office, for example, 60 health inspectors and public health assistants from 15 teams inspected all 222 stalls involving nearly 420 food handlers on the first day of Ramadan at the Jalan Padang Ramadan bazaar.
“The first inspection is more towards ‘educational enforcement’ by distributing leaflets and explanations related to food safety and hygiene,” said the Terengganu state health department’s inspectorate and legal unit in a Facebook post last Friday.
“The second inspection at this bazaar will be conducted, where enforcement action under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009 will be taken if there are violations.
“Inspections done today found that a few food handlers did not follow regulations, such as wearing a watch and bracelets while handling food, not wearing head coverings, not wearing shoes, inappropriate (rusty) cooking equipment, and not wearing an apron”.
Offences under the Food Hygiene Regulations can be compounded for RM100 to RM250, depending on the type of offence.
