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To protect public health the Government regulates the food industry to ensure the food it sells is as nutritious as claimed, and encourages the public to take on a healthy and nutritious diet, the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Food), Mrs Marion Lai, said today (October 29).
Officiating at the opening ceremony of a regional symposium entitled "Food Claims: Truth and Myth" organised by the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Mrs Lai said that the subject of food claims has been receiving increasing attention in the international arena.
"Hong Kong is watching these developments closely and reviewing its regulatory approach. This is particularly pertinent as we are contemplating to extend the nutrition labelling requirement to cover formula products and foods for infants and young children," Mrs Lai said.
She noted that claims made about the nature, content and functions of food in relation to their nutrition and health effects have been widely used in various forms in the food world.
"While some people consider claims useful for consumers, others are skeptical about any possible exaggeration or even misleading statements or representations made for the mere purpose of boosting sales," Mrs Lai said.
She noted that statutory requirements on nutrition and health claims with varying emphasis had been introduced in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in European Union (EU) countries, Canada and the United States.
Regulators across the world, she said, were confronted with questions like how to define food claims and how to strike a balance among competing concerns, such as the consumer's right to receive accurate information on the one hand and the industry's right to promote its products on the other, and how to tackle claims now when their validity or authenticity can only be verified in the medium to long term.
"Through the regional symposium, it is hoped that experts can share their experiences in regulating claims and exchange views on how to tackle the issues involved in food claims," she said.
Hong Kong implemented the Nutrition Labelling Scheme for prepackaged food products in 2010. The scheme, which marked an important milestone in safeguarding public health, has been implemented smoothly with a very high compliance rate. More importantly, the Scheme has succeeded in enhancing public awareness of making healthier food choices.
Speakers from the Mainland, the US, the EU, Australia and New Zealand, Japan and Malaysia, and over 500 participants gathered at the two-day symposium to examine current developments regarding nutrition and health claims, and to exchange views and concerns on issues related to various regulatory approaches.
Ends/Monday, October 29, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:08
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