Another Trappist Dairy product fails Hong Kong safety test

Another product from the Trappist Dairy has been found to contain excessive bacteria.

The Centre for Food Safety said a test result for a sample of Trappist Dairy Carrot Low Fat Milk (236ml) with a use-by date of August 29, 2015 collected from a Circle K convenience store on Soy Street, Mong Kok, showed that the total bacterial count was 130 million per millilitre.

Milk which has undergone heat treatment through pasteurisation should not contain a count of more than 30,000 per millilitre, according to the Milk Regulation.

The centre said prosecution action would be taken if there was sufficient evidence.

The product had already been recalled by the dairy on August 28 as part of a general recall of all products triggered by the discovery of excessive bacteria in a sample of Trappist Dairy Hi-Calcium Low Fat Milk Drink.

Production at the Yuen Long-based dairy was also halted.

The tainted milk saga started on August 21, when the centre said a sample of Trappist Dairy Fresh Milk (236 ml) with a use-by date of August 22 collected for routine testing recorded a total bacterial count of 260 million per millilitre.

The centre said last night that the dairy’s factory was cleaned on August 23. The watchdog collected follow-up milk drink samples for microbiological tests after the cleaning operation and all samples were found to meet legal standards.

The latest tainted product found was produced before cleaning took place.

A Trappist Dairy spokesman said it had yet to decide when to resume production.