A raid by the Penang health department today found the factory, which has been operating for the past 50 years, displaying a misleading halal logo. The bread-making equipment was also rusty.

The department’s food safety and quality division officer Mohd Wazir Khalid said it was also found that the factory owner had placed freshly baked bread in boxes with a halal logo although it did not have valid certification from the relevant authority.

He said the factory’s level of cleanliness was found to have not met the standards stipulated under the food safety assurance programme, and could cause contamination and food poisoning.

“The bread factory was already given a warning last year for a similar offence. However, the deplorable condition continues and is worrying due to possible contamination of the bread sold to customers,” he told reporters after conducting the raid under “Ops Bersih”.

Wazir said the state health department also raided an 80-year-old noodle-making shop in Jalan Pintal Tali here over food hygiene and safety issues.

He said the shop was also ordered to close for two weeks for failing to comply with food safety and quality standards, including leaving processed noodles on the floor while the product was unlabelled.

“We raided this shop last year and ordered it to improve its hygiene level,” he added.

Wazir said the closure orders were made under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983, and the department also issued three compounds amounting to almost RM3,000 to the two premises.