George Town (The Star/ANN) - Malaysian enforcement officers have carted away 378 eggs from three stalls at the Pulau Tikus market following claims that fakes were being sold there.
Seven officers from the Penang Domestic Affairs, Co-operatives and Consumerism Department seized three trays comprising 90 eggs from each of the stalls.
A four-member team from the State Health Department has also collected more samples.
The seizures came in the wake of Thursday's news report that fake eggs, allegedly filled with chemicals, were found in the state of Penang.
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S.M. Mohamed Idris said a housewife complained that she bought a tray of 30 eggs for 11 ringgit at the market but found they did not smell like real eggs and were tasteless.
A Domestic Trade Department spokesman said the samples would be sent to the Chemistry Department or the Veterinary Services Department for analysis.
He said the case, a first of its kind, would be investigated under Section 3 (1)(b) of the Trade Description Act 1972.
A Health Department spokesman said they received instructions to investigate following numerous complaints and news reports.
Egg seller Lim Beng Poh, in her 60s, said eggs at her stall were from her brother Lim Chong Teng's poultry farm in Titi Serong, Balik Pulau.
"We are sure the fake eggs are not from our stall," she said.
At the farm, Chong Teng's wife Tham Siew Kean, 50, said they reared 7,000 chickens which produced about 5,000 eggs a day.
Another egg seller Tan Shuan Soon, 56, dismissed the reports of fake eggs, claiming that an egg's texture would change between seven and 10 days.
The Star reporter tasted a boiled egg at the CAP's office and found that it was "not awful but tasteless".
"Unlike the real ones that have the smell of an egg being boiled, the fake ones were odourless," she said.
Mohd Idris tried to separate the yolk from the egg white but the yolk broke into smaller pieces.
"In a real egg, the yolk can easily be removed whole," she said.
Seven officers from the Penang Domestic Affairs, Co-operatives and Consumerism Department seized three trays comprising 90 eggs from each of the stalls.
A four-member team from the State Health Department has also collected more samples.
The seizures came in the wake of Thursday's news report that fake eggs, allegedly filled with chemicals, were found in the state of Penang.
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S.M. Mohamed Idris said a housewife complained that she bought a tray of 30 eggs for 11 ringgit at the market but found they did not smell like real eggs and were tasteless.
A Domestic Trade Department spokesman said the samples would be sent to the Chemistry Department or the Veterinary Services Department for analysis.
He said the case, a first of its kind, would be investigated under Section 3 (1)(b) of the Trade Description Act 1972.
A Health Department spokesman said they received instructions to investigate following numerous complaints and news reports.
Egg seller Lim Beng Poh, in her 60s, said eggs at her stall were from her brother Lim Chong Teng's poultry farm in Titi Serong, Balik Pulau.
"We are sure the fake eggs are not from our stall," she said.
At the farm, Chong Teng's wife Tham Siew Kean, 50, said they reared 7,000 chickens which produced about 5,000 eggs a day.
Another egg seller Tan Shuan Soon, 56, dismissed the reports of fake eggs, claiming that an egg's texture would change between seven and 10 days.
The Star reporter tasted a boiled egg at the CAP's office and found that it was "not awful but tasteless".
"Unlike the real ones that have the smell of an egg being boiled, the fake ones were odourless," she said.
Mohd Idris tried to separate the yolk from the egg white but the yolk broke into smaller pieces.
"In a real egg, the yolk can easily be removed whole," she said.
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