43 of more than 11,000 products tested have illegal content
Fish and vegetables from several popular supermarkets contained excessive levels of dangerous chemicals and metals, the Centre for Health Protection said yesterday.
A sample of Chinese flowering cabbage sold at a Wellcome in Ma On Shan contained 0.26 parts per million of the heavy metal cadmium - more than double the legal limit of 0.1 ppm. Ready-packed baby spinach found at a Jusco outlet in Kwun Tong contained cadmium at 0.2 ppm.
They were among 43 problematic food samples found in tests carried out across the city by the centre in November and December. During the check - the sixth regular testing of the year - nearly 11,200 samples from retail locations, wholesalers and import warehouses were tested.
The centre's assistant director for food surveillance and control, Miranda Lee, said the five vegetable samples containing cadmium were imported from the mainland and the US. 'Most of the ... breaches were not serious and would not pose immediate health risks upon normal consumption,' Dr Lee said. She advised that vegetables be soaked in water for an hour before cooking.
A sample of black cod from the ThreeSixty supermarket at Kowloon's Elements mall contained mercury at a level of 1.2 ppm - more than double the allowable limit of 0.5 ppm.