Prisoners enjoy healthy and balanced diet

I refer to the letter from Alan Crawley headlined, 'Tougher regime in prisons', which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on August 23.

We are surprised that Mr Crawley has gained such a distorted impression of the prison regime and that he contrasted it with how things were before the handover. The picture he painted is not a true one.

Prison diets are designed by professional dieticians who calculate what is needed, in terms of calories and nutrition, to maintain good health.

Such diets, which are available for public scrutiny, have been under constant review both before and after the handover.

Any changes we might decide on would only be made in order to enhance the balanced and healthy diet we already provide.

Prison inmates are provided with toothbrushes and toilet paper. They may also acquire a toothbrush and paper tissues from canteen purchases with their prison earnings.

Such canteen articles are supplied under a government contract providing a reasonable quality and at a competitive price, relative to the inmates' purchasing power with their earnings. This was also the case before the handover.