Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has recently disclosed that a sample of locally manufactured soft ice-cream was found to contain coliform bacteria count exceeding the legal limit.
A CFS spokesperson said, “The CFS collected the above-mentioned soft ice-cream sample from a licensed frozen confection factory in Sha Tin for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the sample contained 160 coliform bacteria per gram, exceeding the legal limit.”
CFS has informed the factory concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to stop selling and dispose all the affected soft ice-cream immediately. The CFS has also provided health education on food safety and hygiene to the person-in-charge and staff at the factory. They are also instructed to carry out thorough cleaning and disinfection of the premises.
Under the Frozen Confections Regulation (Cap. 132AC), frozen confection for sale should not contain more than 100 coliform bacteria per gram. The maximum penalty for offenders is a fine of HK$10,000 (US$1,280) and 3 months’ imprisonment upon conviction.
The fact that the coliform count exceeded the legal limit showed that the hygienic conditions are not met, however this does not mean that consumption will lead to food poisoning.
