The theme of this year is "Five Keys to Food Safety". The campaign was kicked off by the "Food Safety Day 2008" jointly organised by CFS and Radio 1 of the Radio Television Hong Kong on 29 June 2008 at Tuen Mun Town Plaza. Mr. CHEUK Wing-hing, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, officiated at the opening ceremony. Other officiating guests included Mr. CHEUNG Yu-yan, the Chairman of the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene, Dr. CHAN Hon-yee, the Controller of the Centre for Food Safety, Mr. CHAN Yiu-wah, the Head of Radio 1 of the Radio Television Hong Kong, Professor KWAN Hoi-shan, the Chairman of the Expert Committee on Food Safety, Ms LAM Yuen-mui, the Acting Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, Mr. CHAN Wing-on, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, Mr. YEUNG Wai-sing, the Chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management Ltd, Mr. WU Chu, the Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association, Mr. Ronald LAU Yiu-fai, the President of the Hong Kong Food Council, and Mr. Albert CHAN, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Food & Science Technology Association.

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has all along been promoting the importance of tripartite collaboration among the Government, the food trade and consumers to ensure that food sold in Hong Kong is safe and fit for human consumption. To highlight the theme of "Five Keys to Food Safety" this year, CFS has invited representatives of the food trade to sign the "Food Safety Charter". Upon signing the "Food Safety Charter", food trade associations and restaurants are committed to disseminating the messages of the "Five Keys to Food Safety" to their staff, members and customers, as well as to set a good example for the trade so as to uphold the food safety standard.

The "Food Safety Charter" signing ceremony was held on 3 July 2008. More than 70 representatives from food trade associations and licensed food premises who were members of the associations signed the "Food Safety Charter". The ceremony was witnessed by Mr CHEUK Wing-hing, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr CHEUNG Yu-yan, the Chairman of the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene and Mr LI Wah-ming, the Deputy Chairman, Dr CHAN Hon-yee, the Controller of the Centre for Food Safety, Professor KWAN Hoi-shan, the Chairman of the Expert Committee on Food Safety and Mr Kenneth SO, the Head of Public Affairs Division of the Consumer Council. Addressing the ceremony, Mr CHEUK said that the trade had been playing a vital role in ensuring food safety by attending to every step of storage, processing and delivery of food from raw materials to end products. He thanked the trade for their enthusiastic support for the Charter and joining with the public and the Government in promoting and implementing measures to ensure food safety.

In addition to food trade associations and their members, CFS also invited other licensed food premises at the end of July to join the Government and consumers in building a food safe city by signing the "Food Safety Charter".

To facilitate consumers to search for information on food safety in our web page, we have introduced a "Consumer Zone", featuring "Food Safety", "Food Product" and "Educational Resources" as three main headings incorporating relevant information of interest. With the enhancement of search function, consumers can get the information they need more easily.

"Food Safety" covers subjects which attract wide concern, for example, food labels and nutrition information on prepackaged food products, trans fat, and microbiological and chemical test results of certain commonly consumed food such as street snacks.

In "Food Product", foods are classified into different categories to facilitate the location of health information on various foods.

To assess the microbiological quality of lunch boxes, CFS conducted a targeted food surveillance from April to May this year, and collected 300 samples of lunch boxes from food factories and restaurants for microbiological testing. Pathogens tested include Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus. Among these samples, two were found to be unsatisfactory.

They contained the pathogen Bacillus cereus at levels classified as "unacceptable" under the "Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food." As this will cause health risks to consumers, CFS has issued warnings to the premises concerned and stepped up inspection.

• Patronise licensed restaurants with a good reputation. Before choosing a restaurant, take a look at its hygienic conditions.
• Pay attention to the freshness of the food. Do not consume food that tastes abnormal.

• See whether the restaurant staff practice good personal hygiene and whether food is handled in a hygienic way.
• Check whether the utensils provided by the restaurant are hygienic.
• Use a clean plate to take food each time. Do not use the same plate repeatedly.
• Wash hands with warm soapy water before getting food from the buffet tables and before consumption.

• Use separate utensils such as tongs and plates provided by the restaurant to pick raw and cooked foods to avoid cross-contamination.

• When consuming meat and poultry, make sure that their juices are clear and not red; blood is not visible when you cut the cooked meat.

• Select cold dishes kept in fridges or on ice.
• Choose hot dishes kept in warming devices.
• Do not take too much food at one time to avoid prolonged exposure of the food at room temperature.

Lastly, the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with lower immunity should avoid consuming high risk foods like raw foods or cold dishes.

The media reported an incident that the skin of a nine-month-old baby boy turned blue after consumption of congee containing Chinese spinach. He was confirmed to suffer from Blue Baby Syndrome, i.e. methaemoglobinaemia, which is a rare condition under which haemoglobin in the blood has been oxidized to methaemoglobin and is unable to carry oxygen to the body tissues. Subsequent testing of the congee sample confirmed the presence of high nitrate content which could well be converted to nitrite in the baby boy causing the methaemoglobinaemia.

Nitrate occurs in the environment, in air, food (particularly in vegetables and fruits) and water, and is produced inside living organisms. It can also be used as preservatives, mainly in cheese products and cured meat (e.g. preserved sausage and ham). The level of nitrates in vegetables varies greatly among species. Higher levels of nitrate have been consistently reported in certain vegetables. However, the content of nitrate in food is generally safe for adult consumption.

Vegetables are important to human nutrition as a source of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals and can help prevent the development of cancers and other chronic diseases. The public are advised to maintain a balanced diet and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables (i.e. leafy vegetables, fruiting vegetables, root vegetables, flowering/head brassicas etc. on different days) in order to avoid excessive exposure to chemicals from a small range of food.

Babies below 6 months of age are most vulnerable to methaemoglobinaemia and should avoid vegetables of high nitrate content (e.g. spinach, beets) and processed food with nitrates added as food additives (e.g. cheese, cured meats).

Recent newspapers reported that a local woman was infested by the parasitic liver fluke Fasciola after consuming raw watercress during her travel in Southeast Asia. Fascioliasis is an infection caused by Fasciola hepatica (the cattle/sheep liver fluke) or Fasciola gigantica. Humans are highly prone to infestation after eating uncooked water plants like watercress, which provide shelter for liver flukes. They can cause damage and enlargement of the liver during early stage of infestation, and can later cause severe pain in the right upper abdomen or yellowing of skin, and in some cases, skin inflammation. To prevent parasitic infestations, do not consume uncooked water plants, particularly watercress and water chestnuts.

You probably have already known about saturated fat and its harmful effects on human health, particularly the risk of heart disease. In recent years, another type of fat, trans fat, has increasingly become a subject of concern both overseas and in Hong Kong . So what are the differences between these two types of fat? Which one is more damaging to our health? Please take a look at the following table and you will get the answers.