No more egg-cessive story

Fake eggs are likely to remain a myth but consumers are urged to take precaution when buying eggs at the market

The normal eggs are now under threat by fakes

It has been nearly a month since fake eggs engendered a lot of controversy and ignited a huge fuss among customers – a story that was made famous by a housewife over the finding of deformed and tasteless eggs she had bought at a wet market in Penang.

Yet, what has been surprising until now is the fact that people are still talking about it and some even put on hold eating eggs for the moment whenever they go outside for meals.

A short survey of 10 respondents over the fake eggs issue has been conducted in Taylor’s University. When asked if they are still considering buying normal eggs from the market despite the issue, more than half of the students said yes.

However, a regular eggs consumer Siti Sandra said that she now seldom eats eggs while dining in a restaurant but it does not mean that she will stop from consuming eggs completely.

“There’s no way we can completely stop eating eggs anyway,” she added and laughed.

It’s been said that it’s actually cheaper than real eggs; you have to take into account maintenance of the hens needed for real eggs versus cheap chemicals.

Referring to the similar claims of fake eggs sold in one of the famous restaurants in Indonesia and ultimately no proven to be true, Nina Hidayat said, “Even though the fake egg issue has been widely reported in Malaysian mainstream media, so far, I don’t think people have given scientific evidence to prove the eggs are bogus. It might therefore remain just a myth.”

She added that she will buy the eggs from the supermarket and pay extra attention to checking its expiry date in order to be safe.

On the other hand, Inkslingers asked a few food court vendors in the Taylor’s campus to comment on the fake eggs’ impact on their businesses.

Opining that whether or not the fake eggs had affected their business, Mamak One cashier Sinduja Sivananthan said that their business has been doing really well and thus, there is nothing to worry about.

Furthermore, the Group Executive Chef of Little Wok Group Kenny Law said that the demands and sales of eggs among Taylorians were not affected even after the claim of fake eggs has emerged.

“In spite of the issue’s outbreak, we are still maintaining the earning level of our business” he said over the 10-minutes phone interview with Inkslingers.

Despite the huge differences of egg demands between Sizzle Wok’s branch in KLCC and in the Taylor’s campus, KLCC remains strong in selling more eggs than in Taylors by stating, “Our restaurant in KLCC can sell more than 300 eggs per day.”

For the past few years until now, the restaurant has been buying middle grade eggs from their suppliers in order to ensure its hygiene and safety for consuming.

However, he explained that he had taken extra precaution in choosing the right egg suppliers after the fake eggs claim by saying, “We will be more careful in choosing healthy eggs for our customers. Based on our past experience and observation, I believe we are able to identify the authentic and counterfeit ones.”

(By Dina Melda Matius)