Supermarket chain ParknShop admitted in court yesterday that it sold oil fish instead of cod earlier this year.
The chain pleaded guilty in Kowloon City Court to nine charges of selling food not of the substance demanded by the purchaser.
But the prosecution offered no evidence for nine charges of inappropriate labelling.
The incident sparked public concern earlier this year when customers who had bought what they thought was cod in various branches of the supermarket suffered stomach pain and diarrhoea after eating what was later found to be oil fish.
Before this series of incidents, the court heard, the supermarket had committed 37 similar offences.
Alexander King SC, representing ParknShop, told principal magistrate Ernest Lin Kam-hung that oil fish was commonly sold in Hong Kong and there was no law banning its sale.
Mr King said the misunderstanding was caused mainly by 'an issue of labelling' and the chain had since stopped selling oil fish.