The Star Online: Metro: South & East

Stocking up on face masks
Illegals nabbed while trying to escape during competition
Beverage company suffers drop in sales

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:33 PM PDT

JOHOR BARU: Many have began stocking up on face masks in view of the haze to prevent from falling sick.

An assistant at a pharmacy in Jalan Maju here, Jeff Liang, said sale of disposable masks increased two-fold from the usual amount due to the bad air quality of late caused by open burning in Sumatra, Indonesia.

"Most customers are coming in to buy masks as they are worried of inhaling too much of hazy air, which can cause breathing difficulties especially those with sensitive noses and asthma," he said here yesterday.

He said the outlet sold standard three-ply masks in packs of 10 for RM8 each and RM4 for a pack of five.

Liang added that the outlet would not jump on the bandwagon like other pharmacies by hiking up the price of masks to take advantage of the situation.

A salesgirl, who declined to be named, at a pharmacy in a shopping complex along Jalan Tebrau said they would stock up on masks if the air quality continued to worsen in the next couple of days.

"So far, customers are only buying one or two pieces at a time but sales are expected to pick up if the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading hits an unhealthy level," she said.

Checks by StarMetro at another pharmacy in Taman Sentosa here found that the price of disposable mask was sold at around RM5 per piece two years ago when the API reading was in the unhealthy category, according to the Department of Environment (DOE).

According to the DOE website, four main areas in the state have recorded unhealthy API readings with the highest being Pasir Gudang with an API of 153, Larkin Lama at 125 and Kota Tinggi at 118.

Illegals nabbed while trying to escape during competition

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:34 PM PDT

KOTA TINGGI: A group of 10 illegal immigrants tried to outsmart the authorities by attempting to illegally escape the country during a recent fishing tournament in Tanjung Sedili here.

The men, however, could not slip past the sharp eyes of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) who noticed them and made the arrest while the tournament was going on.

MMEA maritime Tanjung district operations director commander Mustafa Kamal Abas said the boat ferrying the illegal immigrants was spotted by the agency along Tanjung Sedili waters at around 7.45am.

"The group thought they were making a smart move by trying to escape unnoticed during the fishing competition which was organised by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry," he said, adding that the agency had stationed its vessel to ensure the safety of the fishermen throughout the competition.

"MMEA personnel spotted a suspicious looking boat moving slowly towards international waters.

"Within minutes, our vessel managed to stop the boat and further inspection found the illegal immigrants, aged between 19 and 55 years, sandwiched among each other in the boat," he said.

Mustafa added that all of the illegal immigrants were then brought to the MMEA Tanjung Sedili jetty for investigations and the agency also seized the 16m-long fibre boat together with its three 200 horsepower Yamaha engines.

He said MMEA was investigating the case under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Amendment 2010) and the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Mustafa added that initial investigations revealed that the illegal immigrants had wanted to leave Malaysia through an uncharted route.

"To stamp out smuggling especially human trafficking activities, MMEA has increased its patrol and surveillance along the Tanjung Sedili waters until Pengerang near here," he said.

Beverage company suffers drop in sales

Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:36 PM PDT

JOHOR BARU: A beverage company suffered some 30% drop in sales after ceasing the usage of pearl balls in their blended flavoured drinks for a few days due to maleic acid contamination in the starch-based pearls.

Each-A-Cup Sdn Bhd business development manager for Malaysia Clement Low said the company had recalled about 200 cartons of pearls weighing 20kg each after receiving a circulation from the Heath Ministry dated June 8.

He said although the letter from the ministry only warned against the usage of the pearls with an expiry date of July 3, 2013, the company opted to immediately stop all usage of pearls at its 100 outlets nationwide.

"We would like to express our regret that test reports showed that some of our stock imported from Taiwan did contain maleic acid and we apologise to our customers for our negligence," he said at a press conference here recently.

It was reported on May 29 that the ministry had suspended the import of 11 Taiwanese starch-based products after Singaporean authorities discovered maleic acid in some tapioca pearls or balls used in the popular "bubble tea" drink.

Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority had found maleic acid in 11 starch-based products from Taiwan and had withdrawn them from the market.

The announcement was following Taiwanese company Sunright Foods Corporation tapioca pearls that had been recalled after Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) discovery of maleic acid in them.

Meanwhile, Low added that the company had since switched suppliers and were now using pearls brought in from a Singaporean supplier which was approved by the ministry.

"We have run a few tests on the new product on top of that done by the ministry and we assure our customers that the pearls used as of June 13 are maleic acid-free," he said.

Low also said that the company promised to run tests on each batch of pearls for maleic acid to ensure safe consumption.

He added that the test reports of each batch of shipment of the pearls would be uploaded on its official website www.each-a-cup.com for public reference.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 19 Jun 2013