Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ13: Food safety of post-secondary institutions' canteens
Following is a question by the Hon Helena Wong and a written reply by the Acting
Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council
today (January 11):
Question:
It has been reported that in November last year, some students of a
post-secondary institution launched a worm-eating protest on campus as they were
dissatisfied that a hall canteen had provided unsanitary food and yet the
institution had renewed the contract with the canteen operator. On the other
hand, as the interpretation of the expression "food business" in the Food
Business Regulation (Cap. 132 sub. leg. X) (the Regulation) has excluded
canteens provided in schools for the use exclusively of the pupils of the
schools concerned, those canteens are not required to apply for and hold
restaurant licenses. However, quite a number of canteens of post-secondary
institutions serve staff members and are open to outsiders at present. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received in each of the past five years by the
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) about unsanitary food sold by
canteens of post-secondary institutions, and whether FEHD instituted
prosecutions in respect of those complaints; if FEHD did, of the number of
prosecutions instituted; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) of the number of inspections conducted by FEHD on canteens of post-secondary
institutions in each of the past five years, as well as the criteria adopted by
FEHD for determining the frequency of inspection;
(3) whether FEHD provided, in the past five years, information concerning the
number of complaints received in relation to the canteens of the post-secondary
institutions, the number of prosecutions instituted, the hygiene conditions
found during inspections, etc., to the administration departments of the
institutions concerned for follow up; if FEHD did, of the details; if not, the
reasons for that; and
(4) whether canteens of post-secondary institutions are required to apply for
and hold restaurant licenses; if not, whether the authorities will consider
amending the interpretation of the expression "food business" in the Regulation
so as to subject those canteens to the regulation of the relevant provisions; if
they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
According to section 4 of the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132 sub. leg. X)
(the Regulation), the expression "food business" does not include premises
specified therein, such as canteens provided in any school or work place (except
factory canteens) for the use exclusively of the pupils of the school and the
persons employed in the work place respectively. Therefore, the canteens of
post-secondary institutions are not required to obtain a food business licence.
That said, contractors will be awarded operation contracts by post-secondary
institutions only after it is confirmed that they have complied with the
selection criteria set by the institutions. In general, the contracts between
the institutions and contractors will clearly specify the terms and conditions
that must be complied with by the contractors, including those concerning the
hygiene standards required of the food supplied. Furthermore, contractors shall
abide by the provisions governing food safety under Part V of the Public Health
and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) (the Ordinance) and its subsidiary
legislation to ensure food safety.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) In the past five years, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)
received a total of 22 complaints about unsanitary food sold by the canteens of
post-secondary institutions. Two of the cases were subject to prosecutions under
section 52 of the Ordinance.
(2) Same as the routine inspections of licensed food premises classified as
medium risk, the inspections on canteens are conducted once every 10 weeks. The
number of inspections conducted by FEHD on canteens (including school canteens
and staff canteens and excluding factory canteens) in the past five years were 4
170, 3 840, 3 773, 3 706 and 3 747 respectively. FEHD does not maintain a
breakdown of the number of inspections conducted on the canteens of
post-secondary institutions.
(3) If FEHD officers find the food hygiene or environmental hygiene conditions
of the canteens of post-secondary institutions unsatisfactory during their
inspections, they will generally give advice to the persons-in-charge of the
canteens and provide them with information on hygiene education and food safety.
If the canteens are found to have violated the relevant legislation on food
safety or environmental hygiene, FEHD will consider prosecuting the
persons-in-charge of the canteens and inform the management of the post‑secondary
institutions for follow-up. FEHD does not maintain any figures on the number of
referrals.
(4) According to section 4 of the Regulation, the expression "food business"
does not include any canteen provided in any school for the use exclusively of
the pupils of the school. The canteens of post-secondary institutions are
therefore not required to obtain a food business licence. However, the
contractors have to apply to FEHD for the appropriate permits for the sale of
restricted foods listed in Schedule 2 of the Regulation, such as fresh milk and
frozen confections. Although a food business licence is not required for the
operation of a canteen of post-secondary institution, the food items sold in
such canteen are subject to regulation by provisions governing food safety under
the Ordinance. In addition, FEHD officers will inspect the canteens of post‑secondary
institutions on a regular basis to check the environmental hygiene conditions
and the food safety measures taken, and provide persons‑in‑charge with
information on hygiene education and food safety. If the canteens are found to
have violated the legislation on food safety or environmental hygiene, FEHD will
consider prosecuting the persons-in-charge of the canteens and inform the
management of the post-secondary institutions for follow-up. The Government
considers that the existing control measures are adequate to ensure the food
safety of the canteens of post-secondary institutions and amendment to the
definition of "food business" in the Regulation in this regard is not necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:18
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