ParknShop drops wholesalers
After the supermarket giant was rocked by the discovery of cholera in one branch, it says it will stop buying fresh fish from suppliers in Aberdeen and Lei Yue Mun
ParknShop said yesterday it would no longer buy fish from wholesalers at Aberdeen and Lei Yue Mun but refused to point the finger at them over the discovery of cholera at one of its supermarkets.
When asked whether the supermarket chain was passing the blame to the wholesalers, quality assurance manager Peter Johnston said that 'the exercise is not [about] blaming', adding that ParknShop could not monitor them as it did not control them.
In future, the supermarket chain would get live fish directly from its suppliers so it could supervise the supply chain more professionally. 'We are now working closely with our suppliers and tests will be carried out at fish farms on the mainland, from water samples to storage to delivery,' he said.
On Monday, ParknShop shut all of its live fish stalls and destroyed all fish stocks after health officials discovered contagious cholera bacteria in a tank at its store in Pokfulam's Chi Fu Fa Yuen housing estate. It was the first time cholera had been found in a local supermarket.
The decision by ParknShop to stop buying from wholesalers at Aberdeen and Lei Yue Mun comes as a government source revealed to the Sunday Post that live fish wholesalers had been trading without licences for more than two decades on the promenade outside the Aberdeen live fish wholesale market.
Chan Fu-ming, chairman of Aberdeen Fishery and Seafood Merchants Association, said they had been operating without incident for more than 20 years. 'We have been self-regulated and our safety standards are on par with the government. It's unfair to try to blame us for one individual case,' he said.
Mr Johnston said the company was investigating its fresh fish supply to trace the source of the contamination. He said the investigation covered water quality in fish tanks, both at the store level and at the supermarket's fresh fish centre in Aberdeen. It also covers fish counter staff and the company's fish suppliers.
'We are satisfied with the initial water sample test results of our investigation,' he said. 'We will share the results with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department early next week and discuss the possible cause of the problem.'
Mr Johnston said the risk of cholera entering the fish supply at the points controlled by the supermarket was low. To better monitor the seawater, however, the company had decided to change the supply chain to 'bring it within ParknShop's better and more professional control', he said.
'We have immediately worked with our local suppliers to change the delivery system to ensure that our fish are delivered directly into our fresh fish centre. In this way, we further minimise the risk of pathogenic vibrio cholera contamination,' he said.
Mr Johnston said a sampling programme for fish would begin as an extra precautionary measure to ensure food safety was the top priority of the supermarket.
'We will be the only fish retailer in Hong Kong to test our water quality and also the only one to test fish samples,' he said.
A spokesman from the hygiene department said the investigation by ParknShop would be carefully studied.
The government source said the wholesale traders, who provide up to 50 per cent of fish supplies in Hong Kong and see a daily turnover of $5 million, had been operating without a valid licence and had gone unchecked by the authorities for years. A government spokesman confirmed to the Post that no licences had been issued to the traders.
The Aberdeen wholesale fish market is run by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
A Health, Welfare and Food Bureau spokeswoman said the traders must be licensed to ensure that they met health safety standards. 'We are discussing how best to tackle the problem,' she said.
