Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ1: Melamine Incident

Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):

Question:

As the Government has recently found melamine, which is harmful to the human body, in a number of food products with dairy ingredients, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it will stipulate that each new consignment of those food products which are found to contain melamine must undergo tests conducted by the authorities to ascertain that the level of melamine contained therein does not exceed the prescribed standard, or must be accompanied by an inspection certificate issued by approved authorities before the new consignment may be sold, so as to enhance food safety; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) as there have been reports that among the food products with satisfactory melamine test results, as announced by the Centre for Food Safety, some are found to contain a rather high concentration of melamine by the relevant authorities in other places, whether the Government will release the melamine test results of the food samples concerned to enable the public to decide on their own whether to buy these food products; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) of the plans to assist private laboratories in obtaining the accreditation for conducting tests on various types of chemical substances in food products, so as to enhance Hong Kong's food testing capacity and upgrade the overall efficiency of conducting food safety tests in Hong Kong?

Reply:

President,

Melamine is an industrial chemical used for the production of melamine resins, which are used in laminates, glues, paper and textiles, etc. While melamine has low oral acute toxicity, excessive exposure to melamine has been found to cause bladder stones, crystals in urine and proliferation of epithelial cells of urinary bladder in experimental animals. Melamine should not be used in food production.

The Government is deeply concerned about the melamine incident. We understand the worries of the public, particularly parents. Since the discovery of melamine in Mainland infant formula, the Government has taken a series of measures to proactively tackle the issue. These measures include conducting tests on dairy products in the market, only allowing Mainland fresh milk which has passed the test to enter the retail market, making announcement on the test results and the latest developments to the public on a daily basis, setting up an Expert Group to conduct an in-depth study on problems that may emerge in the medium to long term, maintaining close liaison with the trade, overseas and the Mainland authorities as well as introducing legislation to regulate the level of melamine in food. Moreover, the Government will introduce the Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Bill 2008 to the Legislative Council on November 5, 2008 to empower the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene to make orders to prohibit the import and supply of any food and direct that any food supplied be recalled in the manner specified in the order, where he has reasonable grounds to believe that the making of the order is necessary to prevent or reduce the possibility of a danger to public health or to mitigate any adverse consequence of a danger to public health.

(a) All food products that have been tested by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) to have unsatisfactory results have been withdrawn from the local market. To strengthen control at source, we have been testing each consignment of raw milk and milk imported from the Mainland for melamine since September 25, 2008. Only food products with satisfactory test results will be allowed for sale in the market.

For food products with unsatisfactory test results of melamine, should the same products of milk, milk beverage and frozen confections be imported again in future, they will be subject to "hold and test" by the CFS until their test results are satisfactory. As for products of other categories, the CFS has written to the importers and sole agents, requiring them to provide quality verification or laboratory certificate before importing the same products into Hong Kong, so as to ensure that the products concerned are in compliance with our legislation on food safety and food standard. The CFS will also collect samples for testing as necessary.

The above measures will continue to be implemented until the CFS is satisfied that the products concerned meet the statutory food safety requirements. Thereafter, testing on the products will continue under the routine surveillance programme of the CFS.

(b) Extensive sampling and testing of food available in the local market has been one of the important tools adopted by the Government in handling the melamine incident. The CFS has been conducting tests on various milk and related products on a systematic basis in accordance with the principle of risk assessment, with a view to ensuring food safety and effective monitoring and assessment of the extent of contamination of food products by melamine in the local market.

Currently, milk, any food intended to be consumed principally by children under the age of 36 months and any food intended to be consumed principally by pregnant or lactating women shall not contain melamine exceeding 1 mg/kg. For other food, melamine level shall not exceed 2.5 mg/kg. Our legal limit is set based on risk assessment and is stringent enough to protect the health of both children and adults. With normal food intake, even if all the foods consumed by a person contain melamine, and the melamine levels in all the foods comply with the statutory safety standards, it would still be safe. As such, it is unnecessary to announce the melamine levels of the satisfactory samples. Such arrangement can avoid unnecessary public anxiety and confusion, and is in line with the practices of CFS's announcement of food test results.

(c) To enhance the food testing capability of local private laboratories, the Government Laboratory (GL) had organised a total of eight technical seminars on food testing for local private laboratories in 2008. The latest seminar was held in response to the recent melamine incident. Relevant information on testing methodology has also been uploaded onto GL's website so as to provide private laboratories with information on testing various chemical items in food. Moreover, laboratory proficiency tests/inter-laboratory comparison studies are frequently organised by the GL to help private laboratories obtain and maintain accreditation under food testing category by the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (HOKLAS). In addition, a GL Chemist has been seconded to the Innovation and Technology Commission to help speed up the process of giving accreditation for food testing to private laboratories. The GL will continue to keep in view market developments and organise timely and suitable technical seminars and laboratory proficiency tests/inter-laboratory comparison studies as necessary, so as to help enhance the food testing capability of local private laboratories.


Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Issued at HKT 11:53

NNNN