KUALA LUMPUR: The investigation into the sale of frog meat at the NSK Trade City Sdn Bhd (NSK) supermarket in Selayang has unveiled a series of comical blunders that led to the incident.
It was learnt that the Selangor Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry conducted the investigation on Oct 26, shedding light on the unintended incident.
In a report sighted by the New Straits Times and shared in the Edisi Siasat telegram group, the investigation officer disclosed that the supermarket owner's son had purchased frog meat for personal consumption.
A worker who received the supply of frozen food, including the 2kg of frog meat, placed the bag in a storage area within the NSK premises.
The mishap occurred as the owner did not inform the workers about the contents due to his absence in Taiwan.
While preparing the store's seafood counter for sale, workers mistakenly believed the frog meat to be quail meat and arranged it for sale.
This confusion went unnoticed, and customers began purchasing the frog meat, first a woman, followed by a Vietnamese man.
It wasn't until a male customer in his 30s lodged a complaint at the cashier that the error was discovered.
The supermarket's executive conducted an on-site investigation and identified one plate of frog meat that had not been purchased.
The frog meat, lacking a price tag and labeled only as "seafood," was promptly removed from the counter.
The Selangor Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry took up the investigation.
The report revealed that authorities had contacted NSK Selayang to seek clarification on whether frog meat was part of their offerings.
NSK Selayang confirmed they had not been selling any non-halal meat, confirming that the frog meat's presence on the shelves was a mistake.
The worker, when questioned by authorities, confirmed that the frog meat had been inadvertently placed on the shelf on Oct 24 at 10.54 am.
NSK had since issued an apology for the mix-up.
"We apologise for the incident that occurred on Oct 24. We understand the seriousness of this matter, and have promptly taken measures to address it. Warnings have also been issued to the involved employees.
"NSK deeply apologises once again and will ensure that such a mistake does not recur in the future," the statement read.