He said action could be taken under the Price Control Act 1946 against those who raise the price of flour, which is a price-controlled item. If convicted, they could be fined RM15,000 or jailed two years, or both, for individuals and fined RM25,000 for companies, he said.

"The flour price normally stays at RM1.35. I ask the producers to ensure that there is ample supply. We don't control the price of enriched wheat flour but the producers should not increase production of this type of flour at the expense of general purpose flour," he said.

He was speaking to reporters on the flour price after meeting representatives from the industry.

The news conference was held after the local newspapers published a Bernama report yesterday on the sharp increse of the price of burger buns to RM7 for a packet of 40 pieces early this month, from RM5 previously, causing the price of burgers to rise.

Shafie said he had instructed his officers to investigate the matter and action would be taken if the burger buns were made of general purpose flour whose price was controlled.

He also wanted traders to show proof of receipt on the increased prices and consumers to report any cases of general purpose flour being sold above the controlled price.

On Nov 3, Shafie said the 10 sen to 30 sen increase in the price of bread of various brands would not burden consumers and was reasonable because 70 per cent of the increase went towards the cost of importing enriched wheat flour.

The increase in the price of enriched wheat flour could not be avoided following the rise in the price of wheat imported from the United States and Canada which had reached US$450 per tonne compared with US$235 per tonne previously.

-- BERNAMA