Health Ministry to conduct checks on bird’s nest

Published by The Star on Tuesday August 24, 2010
PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry’s Food and Safety Department will collect samples of bird’s nest on sale in the market to check for contamination with dangerous chemicals.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said this came in the wake of reports of traders adding chemicals to bird’s nest to turn them into red “blood’s nest” to mark up the price.

He warned traders that those found guilty of using non-permitted colouring could be jailed up to five years or fined up to RM100,000 or both under the Food Act.

Liow said the image of the billion ringgit a year bird’s nest industry must not be tarnished especially when most of the production were for export.

He said the ministry had yet to receive any complaints on tainted bird’s nest.

The Star reported yesterday that “blood nest” — a much sought after variety of bird’s nest — was actually tainted with chemicals.

While the normal bird’s nest, which is ivory in colour, can fetch up to RM10,000 a kilo, the reddish “blood nest” fetches up to RM20,000 a kilo.

In exposing the scam, Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Chua Tee Yong said this tainted bird’s nests was dangerous to health.

He said the nests were either sprayed with iodine or stored at premises where there was high ammonia content to give them a uniform bright-red colour


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/24/nation/6906422&sec=nation

Consumers fall for Nest-y scam

Published by The Star on Monday August 23, 2010
PETALING JAYA: “Blood nest” – a much sought after variety of bird’s nest – is actually tainted with dangerous chemicals to deceive consumers into paying double the price for a premium grade.

While the normal bird’s nest, which is ivory in colour, can fetch up to RM10,000 a kilo, the reddish “blood nest” fetches up to RM20,000 a kilo.

Traders justify the exorbitant price by claiming the “blood nest” is a premium grade of the Chinese delicacy.

In exposing this scam on Saturday, Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Chua Tee Yong said these tainted bird’s nests were dangerous to health and may even be fatal when consumed by humans.

He said the nests were either sprayed with iodine or stored at premises where there was high ammonia content to give them a uniform bright-red colour.

“Some also use karya gum (from a soft wooded tree) to give the bird’s nest its reddish colour,” he told The Star.

Chua advised the public against purchasing bird’s nest from dubious traders and urged the industry to practise self-regulation to ensure the quality and safety of the product.

He said that all bird’s nests must have a Veterinary Service Department health certificate before they could be exported.

Federation of Bird’s Nest Merchants Asso­ciations chairman Datuk Beh Heng Seong said the term “blood nest” was coined by conmen and that there was “no such thing”.

“Bird’s nest is made up of the saliva of swiflets and is ivory in colour. It is impossible for bird’s nest to be red in colour.

“The so-called blood nests have high levels of nitrates from the artificial red colouring added to it,” Beh said, admitting that many consumers had been deceived into paying a high price for the dangerous product.

He said a kilo of bird’s nest costs between RM8,000 and RM10,000 in the market depending on the grade while a kilo of the “blood nest” was between RM15,000 and RM20,000.

Beh said Malaysia produced some 240 tonnes of bird’s nest worth RM1bil a year and 90% of it was exported to China.

Asked whether the federation, comprising 19 associations and 10,000 members nationwide, had tried to rein in those who were cheating consumers, he said they were looking at educating consumers on bird’s nests and coming up with guidelines for the industry.

Meanwhile, Fomca secretary-general Muhd Sha’ani Abdullah urged the Health Ministry to issue guidelines on what a genuine bird’s nest was and to warn consumers of bird’s nests with added colouring.

He said so far, they have not received any complaint from consumers on the so-called “blood nest” but added that could be because consumers were unaware of tainted products in the market.

He suggested that the Health Ministry issue certificates for untainted products.

“Traders should also be responsible by making sure no harmful chemicals are used in their products,” said Muhd Sha’ani.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/23/nation/6902766&sec=nation

Info security plan for critical agencies

Published by The Star on Friday August 6, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: All critical government agencies must obtain information security certificates by 2012 to ward off cyber threats and attacks, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

He said the Cabinet decided on Feb 24 that these agencies must obtain the Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification within three years to ensure that they were ready to face cyber threats and attacks.

“They will have to meet international security procedures and standards before they can get the certificate from Sirim,” he told reporters after closing the Third National Cyber Crisis Exercise here yesterday.

The agencies in the 10 critical sectors were those in transportation, banking and finance, technology and communication, defence and security, water, energy, health, government, food and agriculture.

Nazri said security did not only involve physical threats but also those in cyber space.

“Any threat against our ICT or critical national information infrastructure can affect national security and our country’s social, economic and political stability.

“The National Security Council has set up the National Cyber Crisis Management Plan to identify possible cyber threats and attacks and find ways to counter them,” he said.

CyberSecurity Malaysia chief operating officer Zahri Yunos said the most worrying threat was distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/6/nation/6810121&sec=nation

Achieving & Implementing Food Safety Management System

With the growing global concerns on food safety as well as growing global supply chains, food & beverage eccentric businesses should implement a documented food safety management system. Risk Management and it's control measures should be established and implemented to control the identified food safety hazards (Physical, Chemical, and Biological).

In the implementation of food safety management system, it was often thought that it would involve major changes to the whole organization business operating system. Thus, creating challenge and barrier to change in the implementation of the system. However, we need to discard that perception as implementation would not merely changing the whole business operating system but to consolidated, improve the existing system and increase the food safety awareness. Not to mention, it would also integrate management of the activities with HACCP & GMP principles, legal & statutory requirements, customer requirements, and other relevant requirements.

The most fundamental key to the establishment of the system is the commitment from the top management. Policies and objectives should be established by the top management to set the strategies and way forward in ensuring the implementation of food safety management system. The role and responsibilities of all the personnel should be addressed and clearly defined as each and every employee is the organization is responsible in the system.

Process flow diagrams and product description need to be defined & developed as well as hazard analysis need to be conducted prior implementation. In addition, the organization should consider what their customer requirements are and actions needed to meet those requirements before implementation. Most customers will require a food safety management system to be certified to a recognised international standard e.g. HACCP, ISO 22000,FSSC 22000 or BRC. Remember to get a copy of the relevant standard and start to comprehend the requirements required to comply with.

At the same time, we should be focusing in the provision of resource e.g. Personnel, infrastructure, facilities, training and work environments which will require to be conducive, appropriated, properly maintained and improved as it would be also the pillar of strength in the implementation of the food safety management system later.

As for the documentation part, the design should base on a study by your HACCP team. The question here would be who should be in the HACCP team? Well, HACCP team should be multidisciplinary which means all functions of the business should be represented and should be lead by HACCP Coordinator/Team Leader. The HACCP team should be competent and involved in the development of HACCP plans and associated documents, procedures and records. Validation of the HACCP Plan need to be conducted prior implementation

The areas to focus would be the communication and training. During the implementation phase all personnel should be trained, follow procedures and complete records that demonstrate the effectiveness of your food safety management system. Verification (e.g. Internal audit, management review, verification of monitoring activities, just to name a few) should be undertaken to demonstrate the food safety management system is working effectively.

After effective implementation of the system, it’s time to assess the system by conducting internal audit to check the compliance and for improvement. All the internal auditors should be trained and competent prior performing the internal audit. Ensure all the correction and correction/preventive action is taken accordingly and effectively by performing verification. Once done, it’s time to arrange for certification body to assess the system in the organization and recommend for certification. A certificate will be issued confirming your food safety management system meets the requirements of your chosen food safety standard.

Achieving the certification is just the beginning. The sustainability of the system would require total commitments from all of the personnel in the organization. Let’s play our parts in ensuring a meaningful approach in the implementation of food safety management system. Cheers!

Fact or Myth On Information Security

Perception 1:

Information Security is the concern and responsibility of the MIS/IT Manager or Department.
Verdict: MYTH

Perception 2:

Security Threats from outsiders are the greatest source of risks.
Verdict: MYTH

Perception 3:

Information Security is assured by safeguarding networks and the IT infrastructure.
Verdict: MYTH

Perception 4:

Adopting latest technological solutions will increase security

Verdict: MYTH