I AM writing to answer Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s question : “Who eats that many biscuits a day?” as quoted in your report (”Biscuit makers seek help” — NST, Nov 18) on the purported plight of local biscuit producers in the wake of the melamine scare.

Last Friday, my 14-year-old daughter was given an 800g tin of a well-known brand of locally made biscuits at a prize giving ceremony in her school.

The day after, Saturday, which was the first day of the school holidays, I had to be out of the house until late afternoon due to work commitment. I could not cook lunch and my daughter and her brother, who is 18 years old, spent the time watching television while eating the biscuits from the tin. They certainly had more than 32 biscuits each.

That night, my daughter was sick and vomited everything, including the dinner I cooked. I have no doubt the biscuits made her sick, as I myself felt some discomfort after eating them. My son however, was unaffected.

I would point out to Dr Chua that chemicals are particularly dangerous because they do not affect all people the same way.

Nowadays, many parents have no choice but to leave their children home alone when they go to work, and when children are hungry, they will scavenge for food and eat anything in sight. Finishing a tin of biscuits will be no big deal for them in such a situation.

Producers are, at all times, responsible for the products they put on the market and must be prepared for all eventualities. A manufacturer who blames other sources for contaminants in the foods made by him will get no sympathy from me. No doubt, many other consumers feel the same way and thus the present drop in biscuit sales.

In the circumstances, it is the knowledge that the Health Ministry is conducting stringent checks on food that keeps customers buying the products. If rules were relaxed, procedures overlooked and steps bypassed, manufacturers would probably go out of business altogether rather than boost their sales.

MARISA DEMORI, Ipoh

Source: NST – November 18, 2008