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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has conducted a targeted surveillance on the microbiological quality of Chinese cold dishes to assess the safety of these food items. The CFS announced today (October 18) that the test results were all satisfactory.
Chinese cold dishes can be prepared in different ways and manual handling is usually involved in the preparation. Being cold dishes, they may be prepared in advance and stored for a period of time before serving and they are not usually reheated before consumption. These factors may affect the hygienic quality of the products.
As such, the CFS collected 200 samples of Chinese cold dishes including liquor-saturated chicken, Lo Shui food and cold fish in July and August this year from various retailers, food premises and food factories for pathogen testing. The tests covered Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus.
Despite the satisfactory results of all samples, a spokesman for the CFS reminded the food trade to observe the hygiene in the preparation of Chinese cold dishes.
"They should remind their food handlers to follow good personal hygiene practices, including washing hands thoroughly with running water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling foods, during food preparation and after going to the toilet; wearing clean and light-coloured outer clothing or protective overalls; refraining from smoking and eating during preparation; covering open wounds with bright-coloured waterproof bandages or gloves; and refraining from handling food when suffering or suspected to be suffering from an infectious disease or symptoms of illness such as flu, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, sore throat and abdominal pain," he said.
The trade was also advised to estimate the demand of each dish carefully to avoid over-production and plan the production schedule ahead to avoid preparing food too far in advance; purchase food ingredients from reliable suppliers; use separate utensils to handle raw food and cooked food or ready-to-eat food; and keep ready-to-eat dishes in covered containers and away from raw food.
"Consumers should patronise hygienic and reliable licensed food premises, and consume or store the cold dishes in a refrigerator at or below 4℃ as soon as possible," the spokesman said.
Ends/Monday, October 18, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:40
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