Call for people allergic to almond to stop consuming chocolate pie without proper label

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said today (August 7) that the CFS learned from an announcement by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that a kind of Lotte brand Choco Pie contained an allergen, almond, which was not declared in its food label.

The spokesman urged people who are allergic to almond to stop consuming that kind of chocolate pie. The trade should also stop selling it.

Product details are as follows:

Product name: Lotte brand Choco Pie
Distributor: Smart Year Limited
Net weight: 280 grammes
Product barcode number: UPC 8 801062 168255

The spokesman said, "Almond is a known food allergen. Those who are allergic to almond may develop symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea and rash upon consumption of food containing this substance. In severe cases, a person may even develop anaphylactic shock. However, other people in general would not be subject to such reactions when the food in question is consumed."

He further said that people who are allergic to almond should stop consuming the above product irrespective of batches if they have bought it. Those who feel unwell after consumption should seek medical advice as soon as possible.

Furthermore, the CFS was informed that the distributor concerned has initiated its own product recall from its retailers and set up a hotline at 2422 1728 during office hours to answer consumers' enquiries about recall arrangements.

"The CFS has alerted the trade and will conduct checks at retail outlets to see if the product is available for sale and will take necessary follow-up actions. So far no product concerned has been found on sale," he said.

More information about the product can be found at the following website: www.inspection.gc.ca/
english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120727e.shtml

Ends/Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:22