TUARAN: A company was fined RM10,000 in default 12 months' jail for selling a honey product with 32 times the legal limit of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF).
G-Tachfood Industries Sdn Bhd through its manager pleaded guilty before Magistrate Wan Farrah Fariza Wan Ghazali to contravene Regulation 130 of the Food Regulations 1985, an offence under Section 13(2)(e) of the Food Act 1983.
The company had committed the offence on Sept 25, 2023 at Bataras Superstore in Wisma Telipok Ria, near here.
Health enforcement officers took samples of honey manufactured by the company at the shop and sent them to the Food Safety and Quality Laboratory for analysis.
The analysis report confirmed that the honey product contained 2598.16mg/kg HMF. The legal limit for HMF is 80 mg/kg.
In mitigation, the company manager told the court that the company usually sent samples of product to the laboratory before selling them but neglected to do so in this instance.
The manager asked for a minimum fine as business was not good.
Health prosecuting officer Kelvindiran Ularkanazan asked for an appropriate sentence in view of the public interest and as a warning to other companies.
He said the company had also been fined RM10,000 last month in the magistrate's court for a similar offence.
"High level of HMF in honey products usually occurs due to the high storage temperature and long storage period.
"HMF at a very high level above the permitted level can cause colon cancer in the long term, especially for the elderly and individuals with chronic diseases," he said adding that as a big company, the company should take food safety and health seriously.
The company paid its fine.