Bottled olive and sunflower oil sample not in compliance with nutrition label rules

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (May 10) announced that the carbohydrate content of a bottled olive and sunflower oil sample was found to be inconsistent with the declared value on its nutrition label. Follow-up is in progress.

Product details are as follows:

Product name: Olive & Sunflower Oil
Brand: First Choice
Place of origin: Singapore
Distributor: The Dairy Farm Company Limited
Net volume: 900 millilitres (ml)
Best-before date: September 13, 2017

"The CFS collected the above-mentioned olive and sunflower oil sample from a supermarket in Causeway Bay under its regular Food Surveillance Programme. The result of chemical analysis showed that the sample contained no carbohydrate, which was inconsistent with its declared value (0.7 grams per 100ml)," a spokesman for the CFS said.

"The CFS has informed the vendor concerned of the irregularity and the vendor has stopped selling and removed from shelves the affected batch of product according to the instructions of the CFS. The CFS has also followed up with the distributor concerned to trace the distribution of the affected product," the spokesman said.

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, they shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment upon conviction.

The CFS will inform the trade, continue to follow up on the case and take appropriate action.

Ends/Tuesday, May 10, 2016