Chemical levels high in 10pc of preserved foods

Excessive preservatives were found in almost one in every 10 samples of dried fruits and pickled vegetables tested by the Centre for Food Safety in July and August.

The centre said yesterday that of 460 samples tested, 91.4 per cent were satisfactory and the remaining 40 exceeded the statutory levels for preservatives.

They included 25 samples of preserved vegetables, including mustard greens, rakkyo kiu choi, ginger, chillies and choi sum, and 15 of preserved fruits, including dried raisins, apricots, plums, blueberries, kumquats and olives.

They were collected from retail outlets like Wellcome, ParknShop and City'super.

A sample of raisins from the Sogo Fresh Mart was found to carry 3,700 parts per million of sulfur dioxide - a common food preservative - nearly double the statutory level of 2,000ppm.

The food safety centre pointed out that these preservatives were commonly used and were of such low toxicity that they should not pose a significant health threat for consumers.

But the preservatives could be an irritation to people with allergies or who suffered asthma if consumed in excessive quantities.

Constance Chan Hon-yee, assistant director of the Centre for Food Safety, said it was unsatisfactory for so many samples to fail the test.

"Some of the manufacturers may not have adequately followed good practices, and used the preservatives inappropriately or excessively."

Dr Chan added that the department had issued letters to remind the concerned manufacturers about the importance of food safety and urged them to comply with the legal requirements.

She said a balanced diet would be the best way to minimise the risks of the preservatives.

"These preservatives should not be eaten too much in a healthy diet," Dr Chan said.

Apart from the information on preserved food, the report, which was the fourth one this year on food safety, found other foods, including frozen confectionary and meat and vegetable products, failing to meet safety standards.

Three ice-cream samples were reported to exceed total bacterial counts and nine watermelon juices and strawberry cream bars had coliform organism levels that were above the standard.

The centre said the confectionary that failed the tests were not sold at local outlets because they were either destroyed or stopped at the import level.

The full report can be viewed at www.cfs.gov.hk/eindex.html

It is quite common for Hong Kong people to consume preserved foods. The tests show that a wide variety of foods have failed to meet safety standards. The consumption of such kinds of foods can cause serious health problems. What should the consumers do to deal with this issue? Can the government help by regulating the food processing industries?