KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- The Dewan Rakyat today passed the Food (Amendment) Bill 2026 to strengthen food safety and quality controls and provide more comprehensive protection for consumers nationwide.
The amendments to the Food Act 1983 (Act 281), the first comprehensive review of the act, include higher penalties, controls on samples of food contact materials (FCMs), monitoring of online food sales and monitoring of pesticide residue levels in agricultural produce.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the higher penalties were not intended to burden food operators or small traders, but to serve as a deterrent and safeguard public health.
"The existing penalties are no longer commensurate with the offences committed, particularly in cases of food poisoning resulting in deaths, such as the food poisoning incident at Sekolah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan, which affected 60 students but resulted in a fine of only RM3,000, and the laksa kebok case in Kedah, which claimed two lives but resulted in a fine of only RM1,500 in 2018.
"No monetary value can be placed on human life. The higher penalties take into account the seriousness of the offences and are proportionate to the violations committed to ensure greater accountability among traders," he said when winding up debate on the bill.
The bill, among others, provides for higher fines and longer maximum jail terms, including a fine of up to RM25,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both, for offences under regulations made pursuant to Act 281.
Dzulkefly said the Health Ministry (MOH) would also adopt a risk-based approach to enforcement, whereby minor technical offences would first be addressed through advice and health education, while serious offences under Section 11 or repeated offences by persistent offenders would be taken directly to court without a compound being issued.
On online food sales, he said 23,553 requests to block social media accounts and e-commerce platforms had been submitted between 2023 and September 2026 due to an increasingly worrying trend of non-compliance.
He said the amendments would strengthen the powers of the Director-General of Health to close premises or disclose information on dangerous products without having to wait for a court order, particularly in cases involving the use of false addresses.
Dzulkefly also expressed concern over the rising rate of non-compliance with the maximum residue limit (MRL) for pesticides in vegetables sold on the local market, which increased from nine per cent in 2023 to 14.1 per cent between January and June 2026.
He also gave an assurance that the Health Ministry would provide a grace period and implement educational enforcement in phases during the transition to enforcement of the amended act to avoid adversely affecting the industry and small traders.
To ensure integrity among authorised officers, Dzulkefly said body cameras had been in use since 2022, alongside the digital use of the Malaysia Food Safety Information System (FoSIM), to reduce room for discretion and curb corruption.
The sitting was adjourned until 3.30 pm tomorrow for the tabling of Budget 2027.
-- BERNAMA