IN recent years, food hygiene violations have been reported frequently, causing consumers to gradually lose confidence in food vendors.
Despite consumers consistently highlighting these incidents — especially on social media — there are still instances where people unwittingly spend money on food or beverages that are unsafe for consumption.
Recently, a woman allegedly discovered that the banana leaf used to wrap one of the ‘pulut sambal’ items she purchased had not been cleaned properly.
The food item is believed to have been bought in Perlis.
“If you are lazy and unhygienic, please don’t prepare food for sale. While wrapping the ‘pulut sambal’, it’s not like you didn’t notice the condition of the banana leaf.
“Don’t tell me the leaf was plucked straight from the tree and not cleaned properly,” she said in her TikTok post, expressing her disgust at the sight of the food.
The video showed traces of dirt and what appeared to be spores on the edge of the banana leaf and slightly beyond it.
In addition, the video also revealed a large black speck inside the plastic packaging, which she claimed to have discovered after unwrapping another ‘pulut sambal’.
Netizens shared in the woman’s disgust over the condition of the banana leaves and recounted similar experiences.
Some encouraged her to report the food vendor to the relevant authorities for the alleged hygiene violations.
“Once, I bought ‘nasi lemak’ wrapped in a banana leaf. Until now, I can’t bring myself to buy any food wrapped in banana leaves. I’m traumatised,” one user commented.
Meanwhile, others joked about the seller using “fresh” leaves, speculating that the black speck the woman found in the second ‘pulut sambal’ might have been caterpillar faeces.
