KUCHING: The Miri City Council (MCC) has incorporated a special condition into the licences of food operators banning the use of nails (pins), staplers and any other hazardous materials in food packaging.
City mayor Adam Yii said that this condition will be in addition to the other health conditions and requirements currently being imposed by the council.
“Should the licencees (food operators and food handlers) be found in breach of any of the special conditions, their licences may be suspended or revoked,” he said in a statement on Friday (Jan 14).
Yii said the practice of using nails (pins), staplers and any other hazardous materials for food packaging has been brought to the attention of the council’s Public Health Standing Committee.
Under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009, Chapter 2 (Protection of food), Regulation 36, he said that all food operators shall ensure that the preparation, packing and serving of food were free from any contamination.
“Contamination under this context means that any particles or impurities that potentially pose health risk to the consumers if it gets into the foods and ingested by humans.
“In this respect, it is noted that stapler is a common object being used by food operators to secure their food package because it is faster, cheaper and easy to use,” he said.
Recently, a posting on social media of a young child accidentally ingesting a nail that was used to secure a packed food had gone viral and brought grave concern to many consumers in Malaysia.
Ministry of Health (MoH) director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah then had warned that any food operators who use nails, staplers or any other hazardous materials to secure food packaging can be fined or face court action for such offences.
