Bintulu health officers conduct inspections in the kitchen of one of the premises.
SIBU (March 24): A total of 13 food premises in Bintulu division have been ordered to close temporarily for failing to meet specified hygiene standards.
Bintulu Health officer Dr Melvin Chung said they were among the 250 food premises in Bintulu, including Sebauh and Tatau districts, which were inspected during the first three months of this year.
“The temporary closure of at least 14 days for the food premises is not meant to punish them but to give them space to clean their respective premises to meet the required cleanliness standard,” he said in a statement following an operation on food premises cleanliness on March 23.
During the operation, he said two food premises were found to have failed to practise good hygiene.
“The owners of these two premises were fined RM1,750 and RM4,000 respectively,” he added.
He said both the food premises closed today and they needed to re-apply to the relevant authorities to reopen their business.
Last year, Chung added, a total of 65 food premises were also ordered to close temporarily for the same offences.
Chung advised owners of all food premises to always practise cleanliness and good hygiene in their food storage and refrain from putting food on the floor and mixing vegetables with meat.
“All the conditions set are to ensure that the food operators care about food cleanliness to prevent cases of food poisoning that can be harmful to health.”