The legislation on the control of the use of preservatives and antioxidants in food has been amended. Please visit the website of Bilingual Laws Information System for the details of the new regulation (Preservatives in Food Regulation, Cap. 132BD).

To allow sufficient time for the trade to prepare for the changes brought about by the Amendment Regulation, there will be a transitional period of two years. During the transition period, it is legally in order for any single food item to comply with either the Preservatives in Food Regulations, Cap 132BD or the Amendment Regulation.

Legislative Amendment

Preservatives in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2008 – Legislative Council Brief (PDF)

User Guidelines

The following User Guidelines aim to assist the trade in having a better understanding of the Amendment Regulation, especially the new food category system contained in Schedule 1 of the legislation, and to answer some of the frequently asked questions.

User Guidelines (PDF)

Public Consultation and Technical Meetings for Trade

The Centre for Food Safety started public consultation on proposed amendments to the Preservatives in Food Regulations on 14 December 2006 . The purpose of the consultation is to seek views from members of the public, trade and other stakeholders on the broad direction and principles of the amendment exercise. Two public consultation forums were held on 23 January 2007 at the Hong Kong Science Museum and 7 February 2007 at the Hong Kong Central Library respectively. The consultation period ended on 28 February 2007 .

Consultation document

Powerpoints used in consultation forums

Consultation results

Five technical meetings for trade were held on 12 April 2007 , 20 June 2007 , 13 September 2007 , 20 December 2007 and 29 May 2008 respectively at Conference Hall, 3/F, Edinburgh Place , Central.

Leaflet – Preservatives in Food (PDF)