CAP welcomes the news that Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai, is personally going to take a re-look at the school canteen menu.

For many years now, CAP has been highlighting that junk food is being sold in and also around schools nationwide, but the problem still persists.

We had previously brought to the attention of the Health Ministry that some schools in Penang were selling ‘fast foods’ like nuggets and fries and a host of junk food and drink which were highly coloured, sugared or salted, or contained too much preservatives.

A study conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has already shown that children are eating items such as fried chicken, fries, chocolates, ice-cream, carbonated drinks, cream biscuits and jeruk (preserved fruit) in schools. Some canteen operators have been found to be openly flouting the School Canteen Guidelines.

CAP calls on the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry authorities to act to immediately halt the sale of unhealthy food and drink to children. Penalties should be imposed on canteen stall operators who refuse to cooperate.

Junk food can be substituted with traditional food dishes like nasi lemak , mee hoon , noodle soup, thosai , idli , chapatti and uppuma , but these foods need to be prepared in a healthy manner.

The oil and salt that is used to prepare these dishes should be used sparingly. Canteen operators should also ensure an ample supply of fresh fruit.

Fizzy drinks and other sweetened, coloured drinks can be immediately replaced with plain drinking water. Water fountains or dispensers could be placed in school compounds and canteens to encourage children to drink water.

Schoolchildren will really start to eat healthy food once it is the only choice available in canteens, and the ever-present temptation of junk food is removed.

It should be necessary to convert certain sections of the School Canteen Guidelines into law to give the authorities more enforcement powers.

The Education Ministry and the Health Ministry should also work hand in hand with local governments to immediately halt the practice of food being sold at the entrances of schools.

A fixed radius around schools can be set where a ban on hawking can be effected. Efforts to ensure that only healthy food is provided inside the schools will be negated if the very food that is being phased out of school canteens can be purchased by children immediately on leaving their school premises.

We hope that action by the minister will not just stop at a re-look but that concrete action can be taken once and for all to remedy the situation.

It is expected that the honourable minister’s background as a nutritionist will be a strong plus point in this area.

The writer is president, Consumers Association of Penang.