The number of people who buy organic food in the city has tripled over the past three years but consumers are still concerned about whether the products are genuinely organic, a Baptist University survey shows.
Some 53 per cent of 503 respondents surveyed between August and September said they had bought organic products, but less than once a month.
Despite that, the number of organic food buyers had tripled when compared with a similar survey in 2005, said Jonathan Wong Woon-chung, of the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, who led the study.
Around 54 per cent of respondents said the absence of certification was the major reason for not buying organic food, while about 40 per cent said they did not know how to distinguish genuine organic products from others. 'It is hard to distinguish whether a product is genuinely organic or just claims to be organic,' Professor Wong said. 'Certification is the best way you can tell.'
He said an organic certification system should supervise quality, like the mainland's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
More than 70 per cent said they had confidence in foreign and locally manufactured products, whereas 64 per cent said they had no confidence in mainland companies.
