KUALA LUMPUR (March 14): Lay Hong Bhd's production from its Jeram 1 farm in Selangor has been suspended from the local and export markets after Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) was found in its eggs exported from one of its farms, leading to a recall in Singapore.

In a statement today, Lay Hong said the Jeram 1 farm — whose production is chiefly supplied to Singapore — is currently suspended from both the domestic and export markets pending the completion of the investigation by the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).

The company added that no eggs will be sold from Jeram 1, and it will only resume the supply of eggs from the farm once the investigation is completed.

All the other farms in Jeram, namely Jeram 2-6, have tested negative for SE. In addition, these farms are divided into smaller satellite farms and are separated from one another physically despite being located in Jeram, added Lay Hong.

"Each of these satellite farms has its functioning feeding and grading equipment to mitigate cross-contamination between farms. All of these mitigating factors have been in place for years to ensure our supply of eggs is not entirely disrupted if one of our farms is affected by contamination.

"This preparation has enabled us to continue to supply our eggs from other farms responsibly to our customers," said its executive director Datuk Yap Chor How.

Lay Hong said it will be offering its full cooperation and compliance with the DVS in Malaysia, and will be working with the regulator to strengthen farm control practices and monitoring.

"Our priority is the safety of our customers. We are currently working closely with the Department of Veterinary Services to investigate and monitor the alleged farm related to export Salmonella detection."

He said the company will strengthen its farming process and is confident that they can overcome this incident with stronger controls and monitoring in the future.

In a separate statement, the DVS said the SE bacteria may cause food poisoning if the contaminated food product is consumed raw or undercooked.

"However, SE can be destroyed by proper cooking methods," it assured.

The department said SE can cause stomach ache, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and fever.

"DVS has engaged with the management of Lay Hong on March 14. There were 10 chicken farms that comprise two pullet farms and eight egg farms owned by Lay Hong.

"The company has informed us that 100% of the eggs produced from the CES 008 farm (Jeram 1) are for export to Singapore. The company has also agreed to carry out corrective measures and more frequent supervision, as well as increasing biosecurity controls," it said.

The DVS said it will visit the farm to determine the source of the contamination, track the source, check the farm's records of vaccination, egg production and surveillance programme, and take samples from the environment, chicken's cloaca, feed, water and eggs to check for SE.

"Eggs from the CES 008 farm are not allowed to be sold in the local market as table eggs until the findings of the investigation are obtained. Eggs from this farm may only be used to produce egg products that have undergone heat treatment at the company's factories in Kapar and Meru, Selangor."

The department said it is also carrying out investigations and taking samples to test for SE from all of Lay Hong's farms to ensure that they are free of the bacteria.

"The suspension of CES 008 to Singapore does not affect exports by the other farms to Singapore, as well as supplies to local markets."

According to the department, it monitors all chicken farms in Malaysia for SE through the national animal disease surveillance programme.

To recap, four importers have been directed by the Singapore Food Authority (SFA) to recall eggs from the Jeram 1 farm after SE was detected.

"The recall is ongoing. The farm is also suspended and SFA will lift the suspension only when the farm has rectified the SE contamination issue," said SFA in its website.

At the market close on Friday, Lay Hong was down 1.5 sen or 4.05% to 35.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM234.4 million.