Call to stop consuming four kinds of food products from Taiwan and use of a yoghurt (with photo)

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (June 17) urged the public not to consume for the time being four kinds of food products manufactured in Taiwan, which might have been contaminated with a plasticiser, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). The trade should also immediately stop selling the affected products.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "The Centre today received the latest notification from the Taiwanese authority that consignments of four kinds of food products (at Annex) which were suspected to be contaminated with DEHP had been distributed to Hong Kong.

"The CFS at once contacted the importers, O' Farm Limited and Velement International Co, Ltd, and noted that they had already stopped the sale of the products. The former has initiated product recall since late last month while the CFS has advised the latter to initiate recall of the affected product."

According to the importers, those four products were available for sale at their retail outlets and there are no other distributors. For enquiries about the recalls, members of the public may call O' Farm Limited (tel: 8111 1575) and Velement International Co, Ltd (tel: 2735 8756) during office hours.

The CFS will continue its investigations and follow-up work, closely monitor the recall arrangements and collect samples of related products for testing. It will also conduct checks at retail outlets to see if those products are available for sale.

Meanwhile, the CFS received a notification from the Macao authority that a sample of Extra Yoghurt manufactured by Possmei Corporation in Taiwan was detected to contain DEHP.

Noting that the same kind of food ingredients of the same Taiwanese brand has also been imported to Hong Kong, the CFS immediately approached the importer, C & Y Canfood Trading Company Limited, and requested it to initiate recall of the product. The trade was also advised to stop using the affected yoghurt.

A sample of a different batch of the same kind of yoghurt has also been collected for testing.

The spokesman said, "If any food product is found to be tainted with plasticisers, the CFS will make an order as soon as possible to prohibit the import and supply of the product concerned under existing legislation, and to direct that any affected food product be recalled and disposed of."

He added, "The CFS will continue to closely liaise with the Taiwanese authority on the plasticiser contamination incident, monitor the situation and take appropriate follow-up actions."

Annex

Ends/Friday, June 17, 2011
Issued at HKT 22:23