Lunar New Year usually brings warnings about firecrackers and toys, but this year it's humble dried vegetables that have fallen foul of the consumer watchdog.
Tests on a variety of dried bean curd, white fungus, white cabbage and lily, used to prepare traditional vegetarian dishes for the festivities, found several contained illegally high levels of potentially deadly sulphur dioxide, as well as large quantities of potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde.
Sulphur dioxide, used as a preservative, can trigger serious asthma attacks in sufferers. Of the 42 supermarket products tested, four types of dried lily surpassed the legal limit for sulphur. The law states that a 60kg adult should not consume more than 42mg. One sample contained 8.6 grams - meaning only 17 strands would need to be eaten to reach the limit.
It is illegal to use sulphur dioxide to preserve bean curd, yet tests revealed low levels were found in bean curd. There were also traces of the banned preservative formaldehyde, which the Consumer Council said probably originated from the original vegetables.
But Ching Pak-chung, vice-chairman of the council's publicity and community relations committee, said those wishing to indulge in the popular New Year's food had nothing to fear if the products were soaked and washed before being eaten.
'There were only four out of 42 [dried lily] that were in excess of the limit,' he said. 'People don't generally throw them in a pot. They carefully soak and wash the vegetables thoroughly, and we believe that after cleaning thoroughly, most of the sulphur dioxide is washed away.'