Food body has failed to improve handling of scares, says legislator

Few improvements have been made in dealing with food scares since the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety was set up more than six months ago, according to Democrat legislator Fred Li Wah-ming.

Mr Li, deputy chairman of the Legislative Council's food safety and environmental hygiene panel, said the government had reacted too slowly and passively to concerns about dyed eggs.

He said he saw no difference in the handling of the dyed-egg issue and other food safety crises of the past.

The food safety centre, under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, was set up in May to keep a closer watch on food safety issues.

'The centre has been equipped with better capabilities to test food samples. But regarding the food scare this time, I have to say it is simply unable to follow the crisis closely. They can do nothing,' Mr Li said.

He said widely consumed foods such as eggs should be tightly monitored and a system put in place to trace the sources of food.

The lack of a recall system also made the government too passive in dealing with food scares.