Centre for Food Safety announces test results on Lunar New Year food (first phase)

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (January 15) announced the test results of a recently completed seasonal food surveillance project on Lunar New Year (LNY) food (first phase). Except for a prepackaged tong yuen sample and a prepackaged rice cake sample found not in compliance with nutrition label rules which were announced earlier, the test results of the 415 samples collected were satisfactory.

"The LNY is coming soon and the CFS is conducting this seasonal food surveillance project in two phases. During the first phase of the project, different types of LNY food, including steamed puddings (e.g. turnip puddings and festive cakes), fried dumplings (e.g. sesame balls and crispy triangles), candied fruits, glutinous rice balls, melon seeds and dried aquatic products were collected from different retailers (including online retailers). In addition to carrying out chemical and microbiological tests, the CFS also conducted nutrition content analysis of food samples," a spokesman for the CFS said.

 Chemical tests targeted preservatives (e.g. sulphur dioxide, benzoic acid and sorbic acid), colouring matters (e.g. Sudan dyes), antioxidants and metallic contaminants (e.g. cadmium, mercury and arsenic). Microbiological tests covered different food poisoning pathogens, such as Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus and coagulase-positive staphylococci organisms. For nutrition content analyses, contents of energy, carbohydrates, protein, total fat, saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, sodium and sugars of the samples were tested to see if the test results comply with their declared values on the nutrition labels.

The spokesman urged the food trade to comply with the relevant legal requirements on nutrition labelling. According to Section 61 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132), if any person falsely describes a food or misleads as to the nature, substance or quality of the food on a label of the food sold by him, he shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment upon conviction.

Furthermore, the food trade should observe the relevant laws and regulations in the preparation of food, follow Good Manufacturing Practice and use permitted food additives only in an appropriate manner. Retailers should source food from reliable suppliers, and conduct quality audits of incoming materials and end products to ensure that ingredients used are within legal standards. In addition, the food trade should maintain a good record-keeping system in accordance with the requirements of the Food Safety Ordinance to allow source tracing if needed.

The spokesman also advised consumers to buy LNY food from reliable retailers with good hygiene conditions; make sure the packaging of prepackaged cakes and snacks is intact and the products have not expired; refer to the nutrition information on labels for healthier food choices; and pay attention to the hygiene conditions of food containers and the personal hygiene of staff when buying non-packaged food (e.g. candied lotus seeds, nuts and melon seeds).

"Consumers should choose food products with natural colours. Bright white pistachios may have been bleached and melon seeds with unnatural gloss may have had mineral oil added. Consumption of these food products can cause gastrointestinal discomfort," the spokesman said.

"Festive cakes that are not for immediate consumption should be kept refrigerated. People should pay heed to expiry dates, reheat the products thoroughly before consumption, and discard those with mould or an abnormal smell or taste. Leftovers should not be stored in the refrigerator for longer than three days and should not be reheated more than once. Nuts and melon seeds should not be kept for a long time and mouldy ones should not be eaten," he added.

The spokesman reminded the public to maintain a balanced diet and avoid foods that are high in energy, sugar, salt, fat or cholesterol during the LNY.

The CFS will continue to conduct surveillance on LNY food and the second phase results will be released in a timely manner to ensure food safety.

Ends/Friday, January 15, 2016