Prepackaged walnut drink may contain allergen (milk)

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (July 27) announced that a kind of prepackaged walnut drink produced in Italy was suspected to contain an allergen, milk, but it was not declared on the product's food label. The CFS advised consumers who are allergic to milk to refrain from consuming the affected batch of the product. The trade should also stop using or selling the product concerned immediately.

Product details are as follows:

Product name: OraSi Walnut
Place of origin: Italy
Manufacturer: UNIGRA S.R.L
Importer: UNIGRA S.R.L (Hong Kong)
Distributor: Well Synergy International Limited
Packing: 1 litre per pack
Best-before-date: February 14, 2019

"The CFS received a notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission that the above-mentioned product is under recall because it may contain an allergen, milk, which is not declared on the food label. According to information provided by the RASFF, the above-mentioned importer imported some of the affected product into Hong Kong," the spokesman said.

The CFS immediately contacted the importer concerned which confirmed that it had imported a total of 420 packs of the affected product. Among them, 300 packs were distributed to Well Synergy International Limited and some of them had been sold. The importer and the distributor have stopped sale and initiated a recall of the affected product according to CFS's instruction. Members of the public may call the distributor's hotline at 3698 1653 during office hours for enquiries about the recall.

The spokesman advised consumers who are allergic to milk to stop consuming the product concerned. They should seek medical treatment if they feel unwell after consuming it.

"People who are allergic to milk may have immunologic response like vomiting, diarrhoea and rash upon consumption of food containing this allergen. In severe cases, anaphylactic shock may even develop. As for other members of the public, generally speaking, they would not be subject to such reactions when the food in question is consumed," he said.

The Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations (Cap 132W) require that all prepackaged food for sale in Hong Kong should list out the food ingredients in its list of ingredients. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment.

The CFS will alert the trade, continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. Investigation is on-going.
 
 
Ends/Friday, July 27, 2018