Consumers were warned by a green group yesterday to beware of buying fake or old stock of the popular New Year delicacy fat choy - black or hair moss - because none had been imported for the past two years.
'The black moss now on sale is probably counterfeit or old stock,' the Conservancy Association said.
But traders said the product - cultivation and export of which has been banned on the mainland since 2000 because of environmental fears - could safely be stored for years.
The moss, Nostoc flagelliforme, is popular at this time of year because its Chinese name sounds like the term for 'be prosperous', which is part of the traditional Lunar New Year greeting kung hei fat choy.
According to records of the Census and Statistics Department to November, none has been imported into the city since January 2006.
The Customs and Excise Department said it had not seized illegally imported hair moss since 2002.