Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ17: Quality of freshly squeezed fruit juices
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Yung-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (November 5):
Question:
It has been reported that some fruit juice shops use rotten fruits to squeeze juice for sale to people for consumption. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the total number of fresh fruit juice shops which were inspected by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in the past three years and, among them, the number of those which contravened the legislation on food hygiene, as well as the average penalty imposed on those so convicted; and
(b) the measures in place to prevent unscrupulous business operators from selling fruit juice that may be harmful to people's health?
Reply:
(a) From January 2001 to October 2003, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) conducted 44,000 inspections to about 928 premises selling fresh fruit juice. The inspections did not reveal hygiene problems at those premises and prosecution action was therefore not required.
(b) In addition to regular inspections, FEHD takes samples of fruit juice at retail outlets for bacteriological examination and chemical analysis. If the test result is found to be unsatisfactory, FEHD will issue a warning letter to the permit holder. Repeated non-compliance may lead to suspension or cancellation of the permit.
From January 2001 to October 2003, FEHD took 93 fresh fruit juice samples for testing. Two samples failed to meet our standards and written warnings were issued to the permit holders concerned. Further samples taken from the shops afterwards were tested satisfactory.
Ends/Wednesday, November 5, 2003
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