CFS announces food safety report for March

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (April 29) released the findings of its food safety report for last month. The results of about 13,100 food samples tested were satisfactory except for five samples that were announced earlier. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.9 per cent.
 
A CFS spokesman said about 1,400 food samples were collected for microbiological tests, some 2,700 samples were taken for chemical tests and the remaining 9,000 (including about 8,700 taken from food imported from Japan) were collected to test radiation levels.
 
The microbiological tests covered pathogens and hygiene indicators, while the chemical tests included pesticides, preservatives, metallic contaminants, colouring matters, veterinary drug residues and others.
 
The samples comprised about 3,300 samples of vegetables and fruit and their products; 600 samples of cereals, grains and their products; 700 samples of meat and poultry and their products; 600 samples of milk, milk products and frozen confections; 1,300 samples of aquatic and related products; and 6,600 samples of other food commodities (including beverages, bakery products and snacks).
 
The five unsatisfactory samples comprised a vegetable sample and a fruit sample detected with excessive pesticide residues, a Chinese cabbage sample detected with excessive cadmium; a swordfish sample found to contain excessive methylmercury and a sample of pork tongue skewer with mustard sauce found to contain Salmonella.
 
The CFS has taken follow-up action on the unsatisfactory samples including informing the vendors concerned of the test results, instructing them to stop selling the affected food items and tracing the sources of the food items in question.
 
The spokesman reminded the food trade to ensure that food for sale is fit for human consumption and meets legal requirements. Consumers should patronise reliable shops when buying food and maintain a balanced diet to minimise food risks.
 
Ends/Wednesday, April 29, 2020