KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — The government has expanded the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) aid programme to cover frozen highly processed foods that it banned in schools four months ago.
According to Sara’s official website, a one-off RM100 credit given last Monday to more than 22 million Malaysian citizens aged 18 and older, which cost the government RM2.2 billion, can be used to buy frozen food, such as burgers, frozen vegetables, meat, ready-to-eat meals, fish or seafood, frozen vegetarian (samosa, spring rolls, pau buns), nuggets or meatballs, sausages or frankfurters, fried chicken; and poultry.
Using photos from grocery store Golden Dragon City in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, food news outlet KL Foodie also listed frozen minced meat; fish, chicken or meatballs; crab-flavoured sticks; fries; peas, sweet corn, and mixed vegetables; roti canai or prata; besides ready-to-heat meals like pizza, spaghetti, and curry puffs.
Last September, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) banned highly processed foods like fries; burgers; sausages; nuggets; as well as snack fish, chicken or meatballs from sale in school canteens.
“This ban is one of the ministry’s efforts to ensure that students practise healthy eating and to promote good growth,” MOE wrote on Facebook then.
A few people commenting on KL Foodie’s Facebook post questioned the government subsidies for highly processed and unhealthy frozen food, asking for Sara aid to cover fresh chicken, meat, or fish, as well as fresh produce like fruits and vegetables instead.
“Why did the government approve unhealthy food like these? Better to prioritise vegetables and fruits, or fresh meat or chicken,” one said.
Another wrote: “Unhealthy foods, not real foods.”
In a 2024 article, WebMD reported that chicken nuggets in the United States contained only 50 per cent meat at the most, with the rest a “mysterious mix” of blood vessels, nerves, and a lot of fat. In addition to mixed body parts, nuggets also have added preservatives and fillers. Chicken nuggets have high levels of salt, fat, and sugar.
British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver once showed children how chicken nuggets were made, as he chopped up chicken bones, giblets, connective tissue, and bone marrow, and blended them together with chicken skin. Then he added flavouring, sprinkled breadcrumbs on the patties, and fried them. When he asked the kids who would still eat the nuggets, all of them raised their hands. “Great,” Oliver said, with obvious disappointment on his face.
Galen Centre: Excluding Fresh Fruits, Vegetables From Sara Aid ‘Self-Defeating’
Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib noted that fruits and vegetables are almost considered “luxuries” in lower-income households, as these healthy foods are more expensive than highly processed foods that are high-carb, quick energy, but have low nutritional value.
“Excluding fruits and vegetables as options to spend Sara aid is rather self-defeating as it continues to place this food beyond the reach of vulnerable households. What is wrong with including them as an option to incentivise consumption of healthy food?” Azrul told CodeBlue.
“Why the limited vision in using Sara for short-term gains and few long-term benefits? Why not take the opportunity to encourage healthy food choices? Walk the talk.”
A poll published in September 2025 by the Galen Centre and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) found that Malaysia’s healthy plate model, Suku-Suku Separuh, was unaffordable for most families, as eating two such meals a day cost 46 per cent of household income in Malaysia. Suku-Suku Separuh encourages Malaysians to fill a quarter of their plate with protein, another quarter with carbohydrates, and half with fruits and vegetables.
In a statement to CodeBlue last month, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry promoted local seasonal fruits and vegetables in a Farm-to-Plate advocacy model, saying this would improve public health and support smallholder farmer livelihoods.
Last Sunday, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad touted preventive care, saying that the cost of NCDs is estimated at about RM64 billion a year. According to a 2024 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the MOH, the RM64.2 billion annual economic burden of chronic disease comprises RM12.4 billion in public health care costs and RM51.8 billion in productivity losses.
Malaysian children also suffer a triple burden of malnutrition, comprising undernutrition (stunting), overweight/obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies. Our World in Data recently reported a rising trend of childhood stunting among under-five children in Malaysia over the past two decades from 19 per cent in 2000 to 24 per cent in 2024, worse then poorer neighbouring countries.
A Malay entertainment Facebook page with 73,000 followers posted an anecdote by a mother with an autistic child who thanked the Madani government for including frozen food under Sara, with a photo showing her purchases of chicken popcorn, sausages, and minced beef patties.
A wellness coach lamented yesterday about how she saw many trolleys full of processed foods like biscuits; bread; cordial; frozen foods like fries, nuggets, and sausages; carton milk; carton drinks; sauces; ketchup; wheat flour; and white sugar, when she was queuing up to make her Sara purchases. She showed her trolley with chicken eggs, basmati rice, coconut santan, healthy noodles like laksa and brown rice vermicelli, and tinned sardines, peas, mushroom, and baked beans instead. The sauce in a tin of baked beans, she said, could be discarded and the beans washed for cooking with soup or eggs.
“Choose quality and beneficial foods, or at least those that aren’t harmful,” she wrote on Facebook. “We’ll suffer when we get complicated chronic diseases later on. And we just eat whatever kinds of food…whether it’s processed or high in synthetic additives, we just gobble it up anyway.”
Malaysian Dietary Guidelines: Ultra-Processed Food Linked To Obesity, Cancer
MOH’s Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG) 2020 highlighted the abundant availability of unhealthy food and beverage products in the market as one of the major challenges to curb obesity in Malaysia, citing an over-reliance on processed foods, especially ultra-processed food (UPF), that are high in energy, sugar, fat, and salt, in combination with artificial substances.
The MDG recommended a limited intake of processed food and UPF, such as fish balls, meatballs, and sausage, the same foods now subsidised by the government under Sara.
“Shop mindfully. Limit purchasing of processed and ultra-processed products,” stated the MDG. “Reduce frequency of eating at fast food outlets and buying ready-to-eat frozen foods sold in convenient stores.”
Malaysia’s 2020 Food Pyramid places fats, oils, sugars, and salts at the tip as foods that should be eaten sparingly, including UPFs that contain artificial substances like colours, sweeteners, flavours, preservatives, and other additives.
The MDG cited examples of UPF like biscuits and pre-prepared and ready-to-heat products, such as frozen curry puffs, pasta, and pizza dishes, that are newly covered by Sara. The Sara aid programme includes biscuits and instant noodles too, besides sugary products like condensed milk.
“It [UPF] is gradually displacing home-prepared meals and the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in daily diets,” said the MDG.
“The adoption of Malaysian Food Pyramid 2020 recommendation in daily diet would benefit increasing consumption of freshly prepared dishes made from unprocessed or minimally processed foods and reducing consumption of processed foods, especially ultra-processed foods and beverages.”
The MDG warned that consumption of UPF is linked to risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, all-cause mortality, metabolic syndrome, and depression in adults. In addition, eating UPF is associated with cardiometabolic diseases, frailty, irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and cancer (breast and overall) in adults.
“Nowadays, ultra-processed foods are now often reformulated and advertised as if they are healthy, being labelled as for example ‘light’ or ‘diet’, or low in fat or sugar, or free from trans fats, or high in fibre or vitamins and minerals,” said the MDG.
“These adjustments may improve the products which, however, remain ultra-processed and unhealthy.”
Last September, international experts warned in a global review of research published in The Lancet that UPF was a global health threat, as people move away from fresh, whole foods to cheap, highly processed meals.
Nutritionists: Minimise Processed Food, Frozen Minced Or Lean Meat And Vegetables Are Fine
Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) president Prof Mahenderan Appukutty recommended against frequently eating processed food products like nuggets, sausages, burger patties, fries, and similar convenience foods that may be higher in sodium, saturated fat, and additives.
Frozen roti canai or prata are also considered convenience foods that are usually higher in fat and should be consumed in moderation, like their freshly prepared versions.
Frozen vegetables and meat are not unhealthy, according to the nutritionist. Frozen vegetables are typically frozen soon after harvesting and can retain most of their nutrients. Frozen peas, broccoli, or mixed vegetables are a healthy and practical alternative to fresh produce and still count towards daily vegetable intake.
Frozen raw ingredients like minced meat or fish can be part of a healthy diet when prepared using healthier cooking methods and consumed in appropriate portions.
“From a public health perspective, healthier food choices include vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs, and other minimally processed foods. With proper nutrition education and guidance from registered nutritionists, households can use the incentive to support healthier and more balanced diets in line with national dietary recommendations,” Mahenderan told CodeBlue yesterday.
Senior nutritionist and IMU University adjunct professor Dr Tee E Siong similarly said frozen meat and vegetables are generally healthy, discounting public perception that all frozen meats are high in sodium.
“We would advise consumers to choose the leaner frozen meats, and eat less of the preserved meat,” Dr Tee told CodeBlue.
The nutritionist prefers not to use the term “UPF”, even though it’s used in Malaysia’s MDG, saying various nutrition and health experts find the term to be inappropriate as it’s a loose definition and can mislead consumers.
The United States’ new “Real Food” campaign on its inverted food pyramid – which prioritises protein, dairy, and healthy fats alongside vegetables and fruits – uses the term “highly processed food”.
Dr Tee also said frozen vegetables like peas or mixed vegetables are generally acceptable for consumption, as these retain much of the fibre, vitamins, and minerals in these foods.
“We can advise consumers to go for fresh foods as much as possible. But it may not always be possible to obtain fresh foods all the time. Frozen foods can therefore be part of the dietary pattern of households and we should not demonise them all in one breath.”
Dr Tee, however, urged Malaysians to reduce consumption of highly processed food like burgers, nuggets, meatballs, fries, and sausages, as well as ready-to-heat meals, saying sodium, fat, and nutrient contents on the food packages should be checked first.
