Targeted food surveillance on ice-cream and lunch boxes
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) recently conducted two targeted food surveillance projects to assess the microbiological quality of ice-cream products and lunch boxes. As far as pathogens are concerned, all the sample results are satisfactory.
For ice-cream products, about 1,100 samples were collected from various sources including food factories, supermarkets and restaurants for the testing of bacteria level and pathogens. The pathogens tested included Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella and Vibrio cholerae. All the samples were tested negative for pathogens.
As for bacteria level, three soft ice-cream samples were found to have coliform organisms at levels ranging from 1,100/gram to 1,900/gram. One of these samples and another sample were also found to have total bacterial count at respective levels of 83,000/gram and 54,000/gram. All these levels exceeded legal limits.
Under the law, any frozen confection for sale should not contain more than 50,000 bacteria/gram or more than 100 coliform organisms/gram. The maximum penalty for offenders is a fine of $10,000 and three months' imprisonment.
"Total bacterial count and coliform organisms are hygiene indicators. The levels detected in these four samples are believed to be an indication of sub-optimal hygienic conditions during processing at the food premises concerned," a CFS spokesman said.
"The CFS has taken follow-up actions, including issuing warning letters to the food premises concerned."
He reminded the trade to ensure that their food products were fit for consumption and met legal requirements. They should observe good hygienic practices during food preparation and handling processes.
Concerning lunch boxes, the CFS collected 150 samples from food factories and restaurants for microbiological testing, including testing for Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus. All the results were satisfactory.
In addition, the CFS has recently collected 10 samples of creamy candies for tests following reports about the detection of formaldehyde in these candies. All the samples were tested negative for formaldehyde.
