Producers are still failing to provide accurate lists of ingredients to warn consumers their products may contain traces of nuts that can trigger potentially deadly allergic reactions, despite having almost three years to introduce new packaging, the Consumer Council said yesterday.
Tests by the Centre for Food Safety of a selection of snacks have found close to half contained traces of peanuts, almonds and hazelnuts not marked on the ingredients list.
Nuts can cause serious allergic reactions for between 1 and 5 per cent of the population.
The tests were carried out in conjunction with the Consumer Council and found 18 out of 53 samples of biscuits, cakes, chocolates and ice creams contained traces of nuts.
Samuel Yeung Tze-kiu, principal medical officer at the Centre for Food Safety, said even a slight trace of nuts was enough to bring on severe symptoms in those who suffered from the nut allergy. Symptoms include itchy skin, vomiting, breathing problems, diarrhoea, a drop in blood pressure and even death in some cases.
A law introduced on July 9, 2004, gave manufacturers a grace period of three years to properly list all their ingredients.
Those who fail to comply by July 9 this year will face a HK$50,000 fine and six months' jail.