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We'll keep selling eels, say traders amid scare

Most samples contain cancer chemical but government powerless to halt sales

Angry fish traders yesterday rejected a government appeal to stop selling mainland eels, despite 18 of 21 eel samples being found to contain the cancer-causing chemical malachite green.

Fishmongers said they would wait for government inspectors to seize their stock rather than voluntarily surrender it. They also decried a government decision not to compensate them for their loss.

The shock test results came two days after Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok advised Hongkongers not to eat mainland eels or eel products while urgent testing was being carried out.

The latest food scare, coming on the heels of the mainland outbreak of a deadly pig-borne disease, has prompted the government to consider setting up a centre for food safety to improve Hong Kong's response to such incidents and enhance monitoring and controls.

The government tested 27 eel samples from food processors and outlets, 18 of which contained residues of malachite green, while three tested negative. The results of six samples are still pending.

The tainted samples came from three supermarkets, one restaurant, five food factories, two suppliers, two wholesalers and two market stalls.

The government, which has no power to impose a blanket recall, urged traders to voluntarily withdraw suspect eels from the market.

'We cannot recall all eel products if there is no evidence that the products themselves contain the malachite green,' Deputy Secretary for Food and Environmental Hygiene Eddy Chan Yuk-tak said. 'We appeal to the traders to withdraw any food items that they are not sure of.'

At a special meeting of the Legislative Council panel on food safety and environmental hygiene yesterday, the health officials said the government was concerned about the extent of the contamination.

It has listed malachite green as a banned food substance and plans to carry out sampling at more outlets. All stock found to be tainted will be destroyed. Blitzes on local and imported freshwater fish other than eels will also be carried out.

Health certificates will be introduced for mainland eel products, effectively restricting suppliers to authorised sources, and products will be sample-tested at the border.

Letters were sent out last night to traders seeking a voluntary recall.

'We do not want people to feel aggrieved, so [traders] have to understand it is for the sake of consumers and also to protect their [traders'] reputations,' said Permanent Secretary for Health Welfare and Food Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai.

Hong Kong and Kowloon Fresh-water Fish Association chairman Wong Tin-hung said the government should buy traders' eels.

'How do I know if my fish contain that substance? Even if you take samples for lab tests, you can't test every single one of them. The government should give us compensation and destroy all of them, not leave this to our own decision.'

Sogo said it stopped the sale of all eel products on Wednesday and may offer refunds to those who recently bought eel products.

Pizza Hut, which was still selling eel pizzas on promotion after most restaurants withdrew eel products, took the item off the menu yesterday. 'It's not worth it for us to lose the whole forest for a single tree,' a spokeswoman said. The pizza chain was not affected by the tests.

Some local wholesalers of live eels opposed the government's proposal to limit their imports of live eels to a few authorised suppliers.

'If our choice of suppliers is confined to just a couple, the price may go up,' said Tommy Hui Hon-man, chairman of the Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Freshwater Fish Wholesalers Association.

eel trouble

Malachite green sampling

The government has so far collected 27 eel samples, of which 18 tested positive for malachite green - four batches of live eels and

14 of eel products. Results are still pending on six samples. The tainted batches, which were all destroyed, came from 15 processors and retailers.

They are:

CRC, Ho Man Tin Plaza

Jusco, Kornhill

Sogo, Causeway Bay

Needs (food factory),

Tsim Sha Tsui

Koganei Japanese Restaurant, Shamshuipo

CH Trading (food factory), Shamshuipo and

Sheung Shui

Genki, Tsuen Wan

Chung Hing, Kwai Chung

Quality Product, Kwai Chung

Yoshida Japanese Food,

Tin Wan

HK Komiya, Aberdeen

Bayern Gourmet Food, Aberdeen

Chee Kee market stall, Sheung Shui

Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market

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