Rising prices and eating out

With the rise of commodity prices such as steel, gold, fuel, soy bean, palm oil, and lately rice (paddy), the cost of living has choked up many Asian household. Lots of families need to pay extra dollars and cents in order to maintain the same living standard as in 2006/2007. Those who can’t afford to pay more have to sacrifice their quality of life. As such, the gap between the rich and the poor is going to grow even wider.

For people who are eating out at hawker center, food stall, restaurant, and etc, they need to realize that the quality of food prepared could be deteriorated with the use of lower grade ingredients to counter rising material costs. We as consumer should always try to find out the ingredients used by food sellers such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili and tomato sauces, etc. in order to avoid our health being impacted by inferior food.

Consumer association together with the Healthy Ministry should proactively inspect all consumer goods on regular basis. The majority of illnesses in Malaysia are caused by poor eating habit and also poor quality of food. Millions of medical bills can be saved if all the relevant authorities take preventive measures in advance. Prevention is always better than cure. Rather than keep building hospitals and clinics, why not spend some money on dietary education and food inspection. In addition, an entity should be set up to play the similar role as the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in Malaysia.