CFS enhances measure by holding poultry eggs from EU countries for testing at import level

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (August 14) said that the CFS, for the sake of prudence, has enhanced measure by holding poultry eggs from European Union (EU) countries at import level starting today.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "The CFS has been closely following up on the incident that Dutch eggs were found with a pesticide, fipronil. The Centre has already stepped up holding poultry eggs from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France for testing at import level with regard to the latest developments of the incident. For the sake of prudence, the arrangement has been extended to cover other EU countries. The CFS will also hold poultry eggs from EU countries for testing at import level and they will only be released to the market for sale upon satisfactory test results."

Furthermore, the CFS has enhanced surveillance on eggs from EU countries. Other than the unsatisfactory Dutch egg samples which were announced earlier, the CFS has not found any other unsatisfactory samples. Based on the levels of the pesticide detected in the egg samples tested by the CFS, adverse health effects will not be caused under usual consumption.

As for the affected batch of the Dutch eggs, the importer has recalled the eggs according to the instructions of the CFS. All the recalled eggs will be/have been delivered to landfill for disposal under the supervision of FEHD staff who will check the number of eggs against records. Should the volume of the eggs for disposal be small, FEHD staff will deliver the eggs to FEHD refuse collection points in the vicinity and the eggs will be sprinkled with chloride of lime. The eggs will then be delivered to landfill for disposal by refuse collection vehicles to ensure that the affected product will not enter the market.

The spokesman said, "The Centre has maintained liaison with the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission, the Dutch and Belgian authorities over the incident, and will continue to take appropriate follow-up action with regard to the information provided by the authorities concerned and latest developments of the incident. The Centre has also strengthened the co-ordination with the trade and enhanced inspections at major retail outlets.

In the first six months of this year, poultry eggs imported from the EU countries was less than two per cent of the total volume of poultry eggs imported to Hong Kong. Under its routine Food Surveillance Programme, the CFS has collected food samples at import, wholesale and retail levels for chemical and microbiological testing to ensure that food meets legal requirements and is fit for human consumption. From 2014 to June this year, the Centre has collected a total of about 1 250 poultry egg samples for chemical (including fipronil) testing. All samples passed the tests.

The CFS will continue to closely monitor the latest developments of the incident and take appropriate follow-up action.

Ends/Monday, August 14, 2017