Hi, everybody!
As a young reporter, I always like trying various
delicacies. I have full confidence in the food safety
in Hong Kong. After visiting the "Food Safety Roadshow"
held at Olympian City in Kowloon on 10 July (Saturday)
as part of the activities of Food Safety Day, I realized
that food safety cannot rely on the Government alone.
A concerted effort of the food trade and the public
is needed if we want to uphold the food safety standards.
In this hot summer, the Food and Environmental Hygiene
Department (FEHD) had organised a series of activities
on food safety in Hong Kong. In order to bring first-hand
information to the "gourmets", I would give a detailed
report on the activities of Food Safety Day.
Food Safety Day, with the theme of "Food
Safety is Everyone's Business", was a major campaign featuring
a host of activities organized by FEHD to promote the
attention and active participation of the public and the
food trade in maintaining food safety in Hong Kong. The
"Food Safety Roadshow" on 10 July kicked off a series
of programmes on hygiene education and publicity activities
between July and November.
The "Food Safety Roadshow" at Olympian
City in Kowloon comprised of variety shows, singing by
artistes, booth games, hygiene education videos and exhibitions,
etc. The purpose was to inculcate, at different levels,
the message of food safety in the participants. The simple
yet solemn opening ceremony was officiated by Mrs Carrie
Yau, Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food,
together with Mr Gregory Leung, Director of Food and Environmental
Hygiene, Mr Philip Chow, Head of Chinese Programme Service
of Radio Television Hong Kong, Mr Lee Kwong-lam, Vice-president
of the Hong Kong Food Council and Ms Connie Lau, Deputy
Chief Executive of the Consumer Council. The opening symbolized
the tripartite efforts of the Government, the food trade
and the public in promoting the message of "Food Safety
is Everyone's Business".
The artistes played interesting and educational
games such as "Funny Scores Shopping Bags", "Defrosting
Q&A" and "Food Safety Tongue Twister" with the participants
on the spot to test their knowledge of food safety. The
games helped to remind the public and the food trade on
important issues when purchasing food or handling raw,
cooked or frozen food. The programmes were much welcome
by the public and attracted many people at the venue.
As part of the Food Safety Day activities,
FEHD would also organize other interesting programmes.
Co-organized by FEHD and RTHK, the
"Food Safety Roadshow" held at Olympian City 2 on
10 July was officiated by Mrs Carrie YAU, Permanent
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food. Also officiating
at the ceremony were Mr Gregory LEUNG, Director of
Food and Environmental Hygiene (2nd right), Mr Philip
CHOW, Head of Chinese Programme Service of RTHK (2nd
left), Mr LEE Kwong-lam, Vice-president of the Hong
Kong Food Council (right) and Ms Connie LAU, Deputy
Chief Executive of the Consumer Council (left).
Food Safety Seminars in various districts
(July ¡V October)
Food Safety Roving Exhibitions in
various districts (July ¡V October)
Children participating
in the computer games on the "Food Safety Day".
Public
Opinion Survey on Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information
(LSNI)
In order to gauge the public's views
on nutrition information of existing labels on pre-packaged
foods and to collect public opinions on the implementation
of the Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information,
the Government conducted an opinion survey at the
beginning of 2004. The survey successfully contacted
1 200 people aged 18 or above over the telephone and
the results were as follows:
Opinions towards the nutrition
information of existing labels on pre-packaged foods
About half (49.8%) of the respondents
indicated that they usually read the nutrition
information on the labels before purchasing pre-packaged
food.
Twenty-six percent (26.2%) of
the respondents considered that the labels on
most of the pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong presented
the nutrient information clearly. About forty-eight
percent (47.9%) thought that only a small number
of the labels had done so.
Opinions towards the implementation
of the Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information
I Opinions towards the LSNI in general
About ninety-five percent (95.3%)
of the respondents agreed that the Government should
regulate nutrition label of pre-packaged foods.
If all pre-packaged foods were labelled
with nutrition information in the future, ninety-one
percent (90.8%) of the respondents indicated that they
would read such information. Among them, close to ninety
percent (89.2%) indicated that they would use such information
in making food choices, constituting eighty-one percent
(81.0%) of all respondents.
About eighty-five percent or more
of the respondents agreed on the effectiveness of the
LSNI. Among them, eighty-four percent (84.4%) agreed
that the scheme could promote a balanced diet, more
than ninety percent (90.5%) agreed that the scheme could
enhance public health and ninety-six percent (96.1%)
agreed that providing nutrition information on food
labels would enable consumers to make healthy food choices.
II. Opinions towards the details of the
scheme
Ninety-five percent (94.5%) of the
respondents supported standardization of the format
of nutrition labels for easy reference of the public
and to avoid confusion.
Ninety-three percent (92.6%) of the
respondents considered the proposal of the Government
to list out the nutrition information relating to public
health (including energy content and the nine core nutrients)
on the labels of pre-packaged foods as appropriate.
Ninety-five percent (94.9%) of the
respondents considered the proposal of the Government
to regulate nutrient content claims in accordance with
international standards as appropriate. Furthermore,
ninety percent (90.4%) of the respondents considered
the proposal of the Government to regulate nutrient
function claims in accordance with international standards
as appropriate.
III. Opinions towards possible effects
of the scheme
While implementation of the LSNI can
help to avoid chronic diseases and enhance public health,
thereby cutting down the overall health care costs of
society, it might also lead to a slight increase in
prices of some food items. After weighing out the two
factors, eighty-nine percent (89.4%) of the respondents
supported the implementation of the LSNI, while six
percent (6.0%) did not.
Even though implementation of a mandatory
LSNI would hinder the importation of some food items
to Hong Kong, leading to a reduction of the varieties
of food items on the market, eighty-one percent (81.1%)
of the respondents still indicated that they would support
the implementation of the LSNI, while eleven percent
(11.3%) indicated otherwise
As shown in the above results, most people
recognised the importance of the nutrition label, and
supported the Government's introduction of the LSNI. Before
finalising the details and implementing the LSNI, the
Government would assess the impact of the proposed regulatory
measures in order to estimate the scheme's cost-effectiveness
and draw up a package of measures most suitable for our
local situation.
Does Barbecued
Meat Cause Cancer?
Traditional Chinese-style barbecued meat
(siu mei) such as roasted pork, BBQ pork and roasted duck/goose,
are our favourite foods. In the holidays, we may also
go outdoors to embrace mother nature and barbecuing is
often a popular activity. Furthermore, jerky, a traditional
Chinese-style snack, is also prepared by barbecuing. What
are the risks inherent in these barbecued delicacies?
How can we prevent or reduce the risks?
A number of studies conducted in recent
years show that cancer-causing compounds, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) 1, can
be produced when barbecued meat is not processed properly.
It is because fat dripping from the meat onto the heat
source during the barbecuing process produces PAHs which
will contaminate the meat surface, and incomplete combustion
of cooking fuel (such as charcoal or wood) may also generate
PAHs. On the other hand, the Food & Environmental
Hygiene Department has recently conducted a study on barbecued
meat in Hong Kong. The findings of the study show that:
Charcoal grilling produces the highest
PAHs levels as compared with gas grilling or electric
oven roasting.
Higher levels of PAHs would be formed
if food is barbecued at a higher temperature or at a
closer distance from the heat source.
PAHs were found mainly on the surface
of barbecued meat.
As most siu mei offered for sale in the
market are prepared by gas grilling or electric oven roasting,
consumption of such food should, generally speaking, not
increase the risk of intaking PAHs.
Therefore, when purchasing and eating
barbecued meat, or choosing a barbecuing method to cook
food, we should observe the following food safety tips
in order to reduce the risks -
When Purchasing and Eating Barbecued
Meat:
(1) Remove charred portions.
(2) Avoid eating too much barbecued meat, especially
charcoal-grilled siu mei and their skin and fat portions
which contain even higher levels of PAHs.
(3) Maintain a balanced diet and eat more fruits and
vegetables.
When Barbecuing Food:
(1) Choose lean meat, and avoid fatty
meat.
(2) Trim the visible fat to avoid fat dripping onto
the heat source.
(3) When barbecuing at home, pre-cook meat by microwave
oven or boiling in order to reduce the barbecuing time.
(4) When barbecuing meat, do not place the meat immediately
above the heat source to avoid direct contact with and
fat dripping onto the heat source.
(5) Avoid charring the food.
(6) Use tin foil to wrap the food before barbecuing
in order to avoid contact with the flame and smoke.
(7) Remove charred portions before eating the food.
1
PAHs refer to a large group of organic chemicals
containing rings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Over 100
kinds of PAHs can be found in air, soil, water and foods
and are present as pollutants in the environment.
Food and Drugs
(Composition and Labelling) (Amendment) Regulation
The Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling)
(Amendment) Regulation 2004 was published in the Gazette
in May this year by the Food and Environmental Hygiene
Department (FEHD) for the purpose of amending the Food
and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations. Under
the amended regulations, food manufacturers are required
to declare, on the food labels, (1) both the (functional)
class, the exact name or international code of the food
additive used; and (2) the presence of eight types of
substances which are known allergens for easy identification
by the public. These substances are:
1. cereals containing
gluten
2. crustacean and crustacean products
3. eggs and egg products
4. fish and fish products
5. peanuts, soybeans and their products
6. milk and milk products
7. tree nuts and nut products
8. sulphite in concentrations of 10 parts per million
or more.
The amended legislation came into effect
on July 9 this year. To allow the trade sufficient time
to update the labels of pre-packaged foods in accordance
with the said amendment, a grace period of 36 months has
been granted.
Certain requirements were also relaxed
under the new legislation. For example, the restriction
on the marking sequence of the year, the month and the
day of "best before" or "use by" date
would be lifted provided that the exact sequence is clearly
declared in both Chinese and English. The restriction
of additives used in condensed milk, evaporated milk and
butter would also be relaxed in accordance with the CODEX
standards. Drinks with alcoholic strength by volume of
more than 1.2 per cent but less than 10 per cent would
continue to be exempted from the requirement of ingredients
labelling. In addition, most of the drinks with an alcoholic
strength of more than 10 per cent, such as wines and fruit
wines, would also be exempted from the requirement of
ingredient labelling and durability period.
Last
review date: 24-03-2005