MP Denise Phua says food sellers have moral duty to sell clean, safe food
By Lip Kwok Wai, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 April 2009 1759 hrs

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SINGAPORE : Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar, Denise Phua, has said food sellers have a moral duty to ensure food sold must be clean and safe.

This comes as 'C'-graded stallholders in temporary markets have been cast in the spotlight, following the recent spate of food scares.

During a walkabout at the Albert Centre temporary market on Sunday, Ms Phua called on stallholders to be diligent in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene - even after shifting to permanent premises later this year.

The market has recently stepped up its cleaning efforts and has hired more cleaners to ensure tables are cleared promptly. There are now 12 cleaners working at the market.

The market holds major cleaning exercises, which are held once every three months. Majority of the food stalls at the market are graded 'C' for cleanliness and hygiene by the National Environment Agency (NEA). Only two stalls have been awarded 'A', with another four graded 'B'. Stalls with 'C' or 'D' grading are inspected more frequently - every nine weeks - compared to those with 'A' and 'B' grading, which are inspected every six weeks.

One of four temporary markets at the moment, Albert Centre said business has not been affected following the recent food poisoning cases at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market.

But Ms Phua stressed that the public has a role to play.

They can also help by reporting unhygienic cases to NEA's hotline at 1800-22555632.

Ms Phua said: "The public hygiene system is not just the job of the government, or the NEA, but also it is very important that all of us, NEA, stallholders and the public must play a part in sustaining this system.

"And we should not do it just because there is a Geylang Serai Indian rojak incident. We should do it because it is the right thing to do, and because this is what Singapore is meant to be - clean, safe and gracious." - CNA/ms