Food scare in four countries
AUDREY PARWANI
Pork and poultry products imported from four
European countries will be withdrawn from
sale after the worst food scare in Europe since
mad cow disease.
The (HK) Department of Health asked retailers and
wholesalers yesterday to withdraw pork or
poultry products imported from Belgium,
France, Germany and the Netherlands.
The announcement was made after
information showed animal feeds used in these
countries might have been contaminated by the
cancer-causing chemical dioxin.
Chickens on about 400 Belgian farms had
been given contaminated feed, it emerged last
week.
The European Commission yesterday
extended a ban on sales of chicken and eggs
from affected farms to cover pork, beef and
dairy products after advice from Belgium that
more farms than thought may have received
tainted feed.
On Thursday, major Belgian supermarkets
cleared their shelves of chicken and egg
products.
The United States has said it will ban poultry
and pork imports from the EU.
In Hong Kong, more than 14 per cent of
frozen or chilled pork is imported from the
Netherlands.
About three per cent of imported pork and its
products comes from Germany, with the
percentage from France and Belgium 0.83 and
0.4 respectively.
The largest quantity of frozen poultry - five
per cent - imported from the four European
countries comes from the Netherlands
followed by 1.4 per cent from France.
The department said it was urging the food
trade to take the products off the shelves as a
precautionary measure.
"The latest information indicates that feeds
used on pigs may also have been affected," a
government spokesman said. "We therefore
have to apply similar measures to pork and its
products from these countries as we have to
poultry, eggs and their products."
He said traders and retailers had been
co-operative over the withdrawal, and the
department would step up inspection of retail
outlets. The department is working with the
countries' consulates to establish which
products are safe or had not been imported to
the Hong Kong SAR.