Cereal beetles 'came from Europe'
Beetles in a jar of breakfast cereal bought by barrister Philip Dykes would have slipped in during manufacturing in Europe, its retailer told Eastern Court yesterday.
Peter Johnston, quality assurance manager of A.S.Watson Group, said it was impossible for insects to have got into the plastic jar en route because its lid had been tightly closed.
The Hong Kong Bar Association chairman bought a jar of Bunalun Organic Farm vanilla granola at the Great store in Pacific Place on October 6, 2003. The store is run by A.S.Watson Group, which is facing a charge of providing 'food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by consumers' that was launched by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
Mr Dyke complained to the department after he poured the cereal the morning after the purchase and discovered live bugs in the bowl and jar. The court heard 575 adult beetles and 17 larvae were found.
Mr Johnston said the beetles must have been present before the cereal was packaged in Europe. 'Beetles can't generally break through whole grains, how can they break into a jar?' he told Barbara Wong Sze-wing, for the government.
Such pests normally survived in silos and on farms, he said. 'I don't believe they evolved into what they are. They would have been there in the stored grain.'
The pests and their eggs could have survived the European winter and become reproductive in places where the temperature is above 18 degrees Celsius, he said.
Mr Johnston denied the lid of the jar could have been accidentally opened during shipment.
He said there was a sticker against tampering stuck across the lid. If the lid had turned, it would not have been intact.
The case was adjourned until Monday.
