Can eat eggs again!! Yeayyy!!

No fake eggs

2011/04/12
By Sean Augustin
sean@nst.com.my

Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin comparing a high-grade egg (right) with one of a lower grade that was earlier suspected to be a fake egg at Wisma Tani in Putrajaya yesterday. — Bernama picture

They may just be of inferior quality, says Vet Dept
PUTRAJAYA: Fake eggs are not being sold on the market.

This was the assurance given by the Veterinary Services Department, which said tested samples of “fake” eggs showed that they were genuine.

Director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin said the samples, which were taken from markets nationwide, including the market in Pulau Tikus, Penang, also showed the eggs were naturally produced, but of a lower grade.
This assurance comes a day after a preliminary analysis conducted on the eggs by the Health Ministry showed that they were real.

Aziz said the eggs seized from Pulau Tikus might have been spoilt, of low quality, or rejected and not cleared for sale to the public.

He ruled out the possibility that fake eggs were being brought into the country, because it was illegal to import eggs, except for breeding purposes.
“It is illegal to import eggs and this makes it difficult for fake eggs, which are mostly found overseas, to penetrate the local market.” The “fake eggs” fiasco surfaced after a 50-year-old housewife, bought a tray of 30 eggs for RM11 at the Pulau Tikus market.

She claimed they were fake because they were unusually large in size and did not emit any smell.

The matter was highlighted by the Consumers Association of Penang, which claimed that their study of the eggs showed they were fake.
One discerning feature was that when the egg was broken, there was no sign of chalazae, the opaque ropes of egg white that hold the egg yolk in the centre of the shell.

Subsequently, Penang Domestic Trade , Cooperat ives and Consumerism Ministry officers seized 270 eggs from three stalls in the Pulau Tikus market.

Aziz said it did not make economic sense to produce fake eggs as the production cost to make a fake was high and each could only be sold for 30 sen.

“It is hard to replicate what God has created. If there is a fake egg on the market, I am willing to pay a good sum for it.” It was reported that in the fake eggs, the egg white and yolk would mix quickly when broken.

Aziz said the reports on the fake eggs had no effect on the sales of eggs.

However, he said to ensure eggs produced here were of high quality, all producers would soon be required to register with the department and would have to fulfil certain standards.
The eggs will have information such as their grade, the name of the producer and the date of production.

Aziz said the system had already been implemented in the larger farms where eggs were produced for overseas markets.

“We want the smaller farms to adopt the same system,” he said, adding that a meeting with the Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Association of Malaysia would be held soon.

The country’s 390 farms producing 23.46 million eggs daily.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told Bernama that DNA analysis by the Chemistry Department of four chicken egg samples from Penang found that the eggs were genuine. He said the protein contents were similar.

Liow said strict enforcement at entry points would continue to ensure that food brought into the country was safe.

Source: nst.com.my