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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (June 7) called on the food trade to immediately stop the use and sale of 23 kinds of fruit syrup and juice (Annex), which were produced in Taiwan and might have been contaminated with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a plasticiser.
A spokesman for the CFS said, "The Centre received the latest notification from the Taiwanese authority today that consignments of the 23 kinds of products as listed at the Annex had been distributed to Hong Kong.
"The CFS has at once contacted an importer of the syrup items (1) to (12), Good Young (HK) Co, Ltd, and noted that it had suspended sale and initiated recall of the products. The CFS understands that those 12 items are food ingredients which are solely for supply to the catering industry.
"During an inspection by the CFS staff this morning, no remaining stocks of the affected products, i.e. the syrup items (9) to (12) with an expiry date on May 20, 2011, were found at the importer's office. Nevertheless, samples of different batches of the same products which are not due to expire, were collected for testing.
"The importer has been instructed to immediately stop the use and sale of the concerned products until test results are found to be satisfactory."
The spokesman added, "The CFS continues to trace an importer of the fruit and honey juice, fruit juice and pulp, i.e. items (13) to (23), so as to take follow-up actions accordingly."
It is understood that a clouding agent is believed to have been used in the ingredients for those food/drinks, which has been adulterated with the plasticiser, DEHP.
The spokesman said, "The CFS has alerted the trade of the incident. It will continue inspection at the retail outlets as well as sampling and testing of the five categories of food products from Taiwan that are possibly contaminated with the plasticiser. Samples of other popular food products similar in nature will also be collected for testing. Test results will be uploaded to the CFS website (www.cfs.gov.hk).
"If any food product is found to be tainted with the plasticiser, the CFS will make an order as soon as possible to prohibit the import and supply of the product concerned under existing legislation, and to direct that any affected food product be recalled and disposed of."
He added, "The CFS will be in close liaison with the Taiwanese authority on the incident, monitor the situation and take appropriate follow-up actions."
Ends/Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 21:48
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