A food manufacturing company was fined RM21,000 by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to charges of falsely using the halal logo on its product packaging last year.
Mee Hiong Yuen Groundnut Factory Sdn Bhd, represented by its director Wong Hoong Kit, 64, entered the plea when the charge was read before Judge Nuur Hafiedzah Md Daud.
According to the charge, Wong was found to have falsely described seven peanut-based food product packaging under the “Pemancing” brand as halal, in violation of Paragraph 4(1) of the Trade Descriptions (Certification and Marking of Halal) Order 2011.
The offence was committed at the company’s premises in Jalan Besar, Sungai Siput (U), Perak, at about 11am on November 3, 2025.
The company was charged under Paragraph 8(a) of the same order, which provides for a maximum fine of up to RM200,000 for a first offence and up to RM500,000 for subsequent offences upon conviction.
The prosecution was conducted by enforcement officer Muhamad Hanif Abd Azis from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Perak, while the company was not represented by a lawyer.
Based on the facts of the case, the offence was detected during a joint operation between KPDN and the Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk), which found halal-labelled products being sold despite the certification being invalid.
Investigations also revealed that the factory involved was not certified halal, although another premises operated by the same company at Jalan Lintang, Sungai Siput, held a valid Malaysian halal certificate.
During mitigation, the company director said the premises had since obtained renewed halal certification just 13 days after the raid, on November 16, 2025.
He also argued that the issue was technical in nature, as the packaging used the address of another company factory that was already halal-certified.
Following the raid, he said production was immediately halted, the packaging was corrected, and the halal logo was removed.
The prosecution, however, stressed the importance of public interest in halal-related offences, describing it as a sensitive issue for the Muslim community, and urged the court to impose an appropriate penalty to deter repeat offences.
In addition to the fine, the court ordered the forfeiture of seven types of seized peanut products, involving 15 cans and 646 units weighing about 211.6kg, to be disposed of by the Malaysian government.
The company paid the fine.
