PENANG RECORDS 252 FOOD PREMISES CLEANLINESS OFFENCES, 475 COMPLAINTS IN 2025 

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Penang recorded a total of 252 cleanliness offences involving food premises under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009 throughout last year.

State Health, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Daniel Gooi Zi Sen said the Penang State Health Department (JKNPP) also received 475 complaints from the public related to food premises during the same period.

“The complaints comprised 348 involving restaurants and eateries, followed by 35 complaints against stalls or hawker booths, 31 complaints involving supermarkets and 14 complaints related to food courts.

“In addition, nine complaints involved school canteens, childcare kitchens, preschools or hostels, two complaints were against catering services, while 36 complaints involved other types of premises,” he told reporters after officiating a food safety compliance operation in conjunction with the Chinese New Year  festive season here today.

He said the complaints received were not necessarily limited to dirty premises alone, but covered various aspects including food quality, expiry dates, packaging, as well as food preparation and serving methods.

Elaborating further, Gooi said issues of incomplete labelling, including the absence of required particulars, importer addresses and expiry dates, were among the offences frequently committed by food traders in Penang.

He said there were also cases of food products that had passed their expiry dates still being sold to consumers, as well as damaged food packaging that was no longer suitable for sale.

According to him, all these offences were identified through continuous inspections and monitoring carried out by JKNPP at various food premises throughout the state over the past year.

He also informed that throughout January 2026, a total of 12 inspection operations were conducted, resulting in the issuance of 10 compound notices amounting to RM18,500 for various offences, particularly incomplete labelling, expired food products and physical damage to food packaging.

In addition to issuing compounds, he said the department also carried out 145 seizures of food products valued at nearly RM700 involving items found to be non-compliant with stipulated food safety standards.

“In terms of food sampling, one violation case was recorded involving pesticide residue levels exceeding the permitted limit, and a fine of RM15,000 was imposed on the party concerned after laboratory tests confirmed the offence under the Food Act 1983,” he said.

-- BERNAMA