Retort packaging to reduce food wastage in Sabah
KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) continues to be committed to strengthening the Food Bank Malaysia (FBM) program by placing retort packaging machines in the premises of food industry operators throughout the state.
Its Sabah office director, Georgie Abas, said the effort will make use of surplus food that is still good and safe to eat from waste.
“As the pioneer of this project, Sabah KPDN has handed over a unit of retort packaging machine on February 2 to BTC Maju Holding Sdn Bhd through its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Abdul Kadir M.E Sikkandar.
“This initiative is believed to be the best method in handling excess food produced by the industry, retail shops, hotels and restaurants thus helping to reduce the rate of wastage in the country.
“Retort packaging technology is a method of preserving food without using chemicals and using aseptic techniques that are free from any microorganisms to reproduce. It uses high heat sterilisation to kill or disable harmful bacteria,” he said.
He added the shelf life of excess food that goes through this retort process can also be increased between 18 to 24 months.
The implementation of the retort packaging process under the FBM program involves various parties such as the FBM secretariat, the State Ministry of Agriculture, the hospitality industry, catering and food product manufacturers.
Target group for this program are families in the B40 group, families with persons with disabilities (PWD) and the elderly, families who experience or are affected by natural disasters such as floods and fires, students of B40 group as well as needy students who will be identified from time to time.
“Sabah KPDN welcomes companies or supermarkets that have the potential to be contributors to this project as well as help in reducing the rate of waste in the country.
“At the same time, this initiative can help the people and consumers in taking advantage of surplus food that is still good and safe to eat instead of being wasted,” he added.