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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (October 14) lifted the closure order against a fish stall inside PARKnSHOP in Chi Fu Fa Yuen.

The department collected water sample from the supermarket's fish stall on August 26 for testing, and the test result available on September 1 confirmed the presence of vibrio cholerae O1 EL Tor serotype Ogawa.

To protect public health, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a closure order against the fish stall immediately on September 1 under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. The stall would remain closed until the Director was fully satisfied with the hygienic conditions of the premises.

A spokesman for the department said: "Whilst the fish stall was closed for business, the supermarket carried out thorough cleansing and disinfection on the stall and its fish tanks. It also inspected and maintained the filtering and disinfection system of the fish tanks as instructed by the department.

"In addition, the supermarket group reviewed its handling and delivery of seafood, and took measures to prevent contamination of its fish tank water.

"The department took further environmental swabs and water samples from the fish stall for testing after the supermarket had completed cleansing and disinfection there. No vibrio cholerae was found in the samples tested.

"We have noted that the supermarket group has already implemented improvement measures to avoid contamination of its fish tank water, such as collecting more samples of fish tank water and seafood for testing, as well as introducing a record system to trace the source of seafood."

The department is very concerned about the hygiene standard of fish stalls and fish tank water. It will maintain close surveillance and continue to collect fish tank water samples for testing to protect public health.

End/Tuesday, October 14, 2003

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