Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ18: Monitoring food safety aspects of food containers and utensils

Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 23):

Question :

It has been reported that in a sample test of plastic disposable tableware recently carried out by the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, about half of the samples were found to contain carcinogenic substances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) how it prevents the inflow of such substandard plastic tableware into the territory, and whether it has assessed the health implications of using such tableware over a long period of time;

(b) of the number of samples taken for laboratory tests by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in the past three years from foods in plastic disposable containers, the number of such samples suspected to have been contaminated by the containers, the number of prosecutions instituted against the persons concerned and the penalties imposed on those convicted;

(c) of the department responsible for monitoring the food safety aspects of food containers and utensils; and

(d) of the current progress of its study on regulating the quality of plastic disposable tableware by legislation, and the other measures to safeguard public health?

Reply :

Madam President,

(a) The Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132) provides that all food items intended for sale in Hong Kong must be fit for human consumption. If there are suspected cases of food contamination caused by substances released from plastic containers, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will conduct tests on the relevant food and take follow-up action. If necessary, FEHD will also strengthen communication with other departments concerned to prevent the problematic plastic disposable tableware from entering into the territory. Plastic disposable tableware may release various kinds of chemical substances on contact with food, including heavy metals, residues of raw materials used in manufacturing plastics such as styrene, and other impurities such as additives, etc. The amount of chemical substances released depends on variables such as the types of food that come into contact (for example whether the food is oily), the temperature of food and duration of contact. Health impacts vary according to the types and amount of chemical substances released. Ordinary impurities such as additives have very low toxicity. But ingesting heavy amounts of styrene may cause nausea and affect the nervous system.

(b) In the course of collecting food samples, FEHD does not classify the samples according to their containers, that is whether they have been "preserved in plastic disposable containers" or not. However, the Department had collected 30 samples of plastic disposable food containers for chemical testing in the past three years and the test results were all satisfactory.

(c) Food safety issues related to food containers and utensils are regulated by FEHD and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED). Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene is authorised to draw up regulations to regulate the use of materials in the manufacture of apparatus or utensils intended for the preparation or preservation of food for human consumption. Furthermore, the licensing conditions for licensed food factories supplying lunch boxes also stipulate that food containers must be made of heat- and acid-resistant materials that do not release toxic chemical substances. C&ED also takes samples of plastic disposable tableware available in the market for testing in accordance with the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance to prevent unsafe plastic disposable tableware from entering into Hong Kong.

(d) The joint study on plastic disposable lunch boxes conducted by FEHD and the Consumer Council is well underway and the results are expected to be published by the end of 2005 or early 2006. Meanwhile, C&ED has collected samples of plastic disposable tableware such as forks, spoons, soup spoons and knives (54 dozens in all) and sent them to the Government Laboratory for testing in accordance with the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance. C&ED also contacted the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) to follow up on whether there had been any export of unsafe disposable tableware to Hong Kong and to seek specific information about unsafe tableware, such as the origin of the products and the Hong Kong importers concerned for follow-up actions.


Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:59

NNNN