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.
How
to Ensure Safe Consumption of Barbecued Meat
Barbecued meat is defined as meat product
prepared by a dry heat cooking methods such as grilling
and roasting. Two types of barbecued meat, namely jerky
and Cantonese-style barbecued meat, popularly known as
siu mei, are very popular in Hong Kong.
A number of studies conducted in recent years show that
cancer-causing compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs)1 , can be produced
if 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.
Factors contributing to the increase in PAH content of
barbecued food include:
Food being too close to heat source;
High fat content of food;
High temperature employed;
Extended cooking period;
Excessive fat dripping; and
Type of fuel (such as charcoal or wood)
used for cooking.
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.
To enhance food safety, food manufacturers
should take the following into consideration when manufacturing
barbecued meat --
Selection of Cooking Methods and Temperature
(1) Gas grilling or electric oven roasting
is preferred instead of charcoal grilling.
(2) Use a lower temperature to achieve the barbecuing
effect.
Preparations before Barbecuing Meat
(1) Before and after barbecuing meat,
clean the barbecuing utensils (such as the grilling
racks, trays and hooks) thoroughly to prevent contamination
of food by charred material on the utensils.
(2) Defrost frozen meat thoroughly to prevent under-cook
of the centre portion of the meat.
(3) Choose lean meat and avoid fatty meat.
(4) Trim the visible fat and skin from meat to avoid
fat dripping onto the heat source.
(5) Pre-cook meat by microwave oven or boiling to reduce
the barbecuing time.
When Barbecuing
(1) 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.
(2) Do not start barbecuing until the heat source has
reached a suitable temperature in order to reduce the
barbecuing time.
(3) Install a "drip tray" in the heating chamber
to avoid fat dripping onto the heat source.
(4) Avoid fat dripping onto the heat source even if
a "drip tray" is not available.
(5) Meat should be thoroughly cooked until the core
temperature reaches 75o¢Ñ or above.
(6) Avoid charring the food.
(7) Remove charred portions before selling or serving
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