Regarding one suspected food poisoning cluster announced on 3rd January, the Centre for Food Safety has conducted a preliminary investigation and has the following recommendations for
food premises' reference:

Food poisoning cases The cluster involved two males and eight females, aged 1 to 68.
Location of alleged food premises Shatin
Suspected incriminated food item

Lobster Noodles

Suspected contributing factors
  • Contamination by raw food
  • Inadequate reheating
Advice
  • Purchase seafood from reliable and approved sources with health certificates issued by the relevant authority.
  • Seafood should be stored in refrigerator at 4°C or below.
  • Store raw food and ready to eat food separately to avoid cross contamination.
  • Wash hands thoroughly between handling raw and cooked seafood.
  • Wear protective clothing (e.g. gloves) and cover all wounds when handling raw seafood.
  • Use separate food preparation areas for handling of raw, cooked, ready to eat and high risk foods.
  • Handle raw foods and cook ed foods or ready to eat foods by using designated utensils, including cutting boards, knives and wiping cloths.
  • Cook or reheat seafood thoroughly before serving.
  • Review the food preparati on work flow to identify the risk of cross contamination and design a food safety plan to eliminate the risk.
  • The management should provide training to food handlers so that they can fully understand the risk of cross contamination in handling raw food and observe good personal hygiene to prevent cross contamination.

Centre for Food Safety
04/01/2023