Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ20: Lunch box suppliers

Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 16):


Question:


Regarding the lunchboxes ordered by primary schools for their students from food suppliers, will the Government inform this Council :


(a) of the number of complaints received by the authorities concerning these lunchboxes in the past three years, the subjects of complaints and how such complaints have been followed up; and


(b) whether the authorities have regularly updated the guidelines issued to food suppliers on the hygiene standard and nutrient composition of lunchboxes; if so, of the details of the latest guidelines, and the measures in place to monitor compliance with such guidelines by food suppliers; if no such measures are in place, the reasons for that?


Reply:


Madam President,


(a) In the past three years from 2002 to 2004, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) received a total of 19 complaints related to suppliers of lunch boxes to schools. The majority of these complaints were related to suspected deterioration and incomplete cooking of the food and the presence of foreign objects. FEHD conducted detail investigation on all cases, including onsite investigation, testing of food concerned, and checking and collecting evidence at the food processing premises. After the completion of investigation, FEHD had issued 15 verbal warnings to the relevant food suppliers and initiated five prosecutions. Four of these prosecutions have been successful and the convicted food suppliers were fined an average of about $4,000. The remaining one prosecution has yet to be heard by the Court. The Department of Health (DH) has not received any complaints related to lunch boxes for bulk supply to primary school students.


(b) To help ensure food safety, lunch box suppliers are required under the Food Business Regulation to obtain a valid food factory licence before operation. FEHD has in recent years amended a guideline on the Food Safety of School Lunchboxes and produced the Food Hygiene Code which detail the standard of food hygiene and food safety for the trade, including the requirement for the lunch box containers, storage temperature during delivery, etc. FEHD also disseminates guidelines on food hygiene on the handling and delivery of lunch boxes for lunch box suppliers through telephone hotline, printed education materials, workshops and seminars. The trade can browse and download the relevant information from the departmental webpage (http://www.info.gov.hk/fehd). FEHD will update the relevant guidelines as and when needed. To ensure that the relevant regulations and conditions for issue of licence are being observed, FEHD staff has been conducting inspection on these food factories from time to time and will adopt follow-up actions where appropriate.


Separately, to promote nutritional balance in school lunch boxes, DH has produced an educational pamphlet for distribution to lunch box suppliers, as well as primary and secondary schools in 2001. The pamphlet provides information on the food pyramid, what constitutes a healthy lunchbox and some examples of healthy lunchboxes. A copy of the pamphlet can be found at the departmental website (http://www.cheu.gov.hk). The messages are reinforced at the community level, through activities held in collaboration with the District Councils and local groups. Activities, including workshops, health talks, cooking competitions, exhibitions and newsletters, targeting at children, women, teachers, students and parents were launched. In addition, school-based healthy eating campaigns in selected primary schools in Tai Po, Shatin and the North District were held in 2003 and 2004.


On another front, advice on related topics was promoted through the mass media, the internet and DH's 24-hour Health Education Hotline. As part of its ongoing effort to promote healthy eating, DH conducted a focus group study of primary school students in 2004 to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors for healthy eating. Findings from the study will be used for the planning of related health promotion activities.




Ends/Wednesday, March 16, 2005

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