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SCMP Reporter

Food and nutrition experts have welcomed the results of a series of tests carried out by the Sunday Morning Post, saying they indicate that Hong Kong's food safety monitoring programme is working.
The tests found no recordable levels of pesticides, and only trace levels of heavy metals. At the same time, experts consulted by the Post also noted that the results tended to confirm that imported or organic foods were only marginally better, if at all, for people to eat.
The director of studies for the Food and Nutritional Science Programme at Chinese University, Peter Cheung Chi-keung,  said he was surprised by the lack of any significant variation between organic and non-organic foods and between local and imported ones.
'The difference is minimal,' Professor Cheung said. 'The only thing I can see that may have any implications is the higher levels of potassium in the imported carrots [from City'super,  Great and ThreeSixty].
'The levels are four or five times higher while the other nutrients are all fairly similar. High levels of potassium normally reflect the use of fertilisers.
'Based on this small sample it is hard to draw any concrete conclusions but there may be a question about whether those vegetables were grown organically.'
Professor Cheung was also impressed by the apparent lack of harmful chemicals in the samples tested.
'On the whole it is not so surprising because all the vegetables imported into Hong Kong are subject to random checks,' he said. 'So the results would tend to suggest that the government regulatory efforts are quite effective.'
Karen Chong, dietitian-in-charge at Matilda International Hospital on The Peak,  said the results did not show any significant difference between the heavy metal and nutrient contents of organic and conventional options.
She was unconvinced by the lack of any reading for pesticides, suggesting there may have been a measurement error.
'[However,] the health benefits of a balanced diet outweigh any potential risks of pesticide exposure,' she said.
June Chan King-chi,  a former president of the Hong Kong Nutrition Association  and a dietitian at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley, was impressed by the safety of the food.
'I'm glad nothing had a lot of heavy metals in it,' she said.
She suggested the variation in the levels of calcium in samples of broccoli might have had something to do with the length of the stems, where the mineral was concentrated.
Ms Chan also noted that nutritional content had a lot to do with how the products were processed and handled.
'If you buy frozen vegetables, for instance, you actually get a similar level of nutrients because they are taken straight from the farm and the enzymatic processes are stopped immediately,' she said. 'So depending on how other foods are handled and transported, that will affect how good they are by the time they reach the consumer.'
C.Y. Ma,  University of Hong Kong professor of biological sciences and assistant dean of research, said people generally bought organic food for reasons other than health, and it had more to do with protecting the environment.
'Four out of five people buying organic food are not concerned about the cost. Everybody knows it's more expensive,' he said. 'Even the health impacts are not the concern. It's more to do with the environment and a belief that we should be living more sustainably.'
He added: 'The nutritional differences in the food between organic and non-organic can be directly attributed to how the vegetables are grown  or what the pork is fed  on.'
The professor was surprised by the lack of pesticides in the fruit and vegetables but said they did exist in up to 5 per cent of vegetables, according to the university's testing for supermarkets. Professor Ma has been involved in extensive testing for Hong Kong's supermarkets.
He said the result of the Post's tests showed government and commercial monitoring of food products was working.



Tests show food safety checks are right recipe, say experts