Convenience store chain 7-Eleven Malaysia has apologised for an incident involving a rat found in one of its outlet’s food warmers.

“We would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers,” 7-Eleven said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

The incident had purportedly occurred at 7-Eleven Kelana Centre Point on Jan 2.

A picture of the rat, crouched on top of a row of sausages and chicken balls inside the food warmer had gone viral after it was posted on Facebook.

Later this evening, Bernama reported Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as saying the inspection by the ministry at the Kelana Centre Point 7-Eleven outlet did not show any rat infestation there.

7-Eleven said it had conducted its own internal investigations as well as cooperated with the Health Ministry’s Petaling district office on the matter.

The convenience store chain said that this was an “isolated incident” as it has certified quality assurance audits and regular pest control steps in place to prevent such an occurrence.

“The safety and well-being of our customers are of utmost importance to us and we would like to reiterate that 7-Eleven Malaysia ensures that all of our food products are of the highest quality and produced hygienically in an approved and audited facility(s).

“Once again, we would like to apologise and sincerely thank our customers for your patience and understanding whilst we take further corrective actions to prevent such an incident from occurring again.”

This is not the first time an incident involving a rat on food products has gone viral.

In October last year, a customer at the Mid Valley Megamall Komugi outlet uploaded a photograph on Facebook showing a rat munching on the outlet's freshly-baked bread on a tray.

Apologising for the incident, Komugi, like 7-Eleven, also stressed that it was an isolated incident. Mid Valley Megamall also apologised for the incident.

The inspection at the 7-Eleven store was conducted by the Health Ministry after the picture showing a rodent in its food warmer went viral and raised public concern.

Noor Hisham said the ministry was aware of the issue and had carried out an investigation and the outcome showed that the glass display cabinet as shown in the viral picture was fully covered.

"The ministry takes all matters related to food safety seriously. Consumers can contact the nearest State Health Department or Health Office or through the ministry's website or Facebook of the Food Safety and Quality Division if there are complaints regarding food safety," he said in a statement issued in Kuala Lumpur.

Noor Hisham also said that the ministry carried out a total of 126,086 inspections at food premises from January until November last year.

As a result of these inspections, 146 food premises were closed under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983 due to the presence of rats and 91 compounds under the Food Act 1983 were also issued for the same reason, he said.