FRESH food might be rationed after a major disaster at Daya Bay, the Security Branch warned yesterday at its first detailed announcement of contingency plans.
The territory had up to two months' supply of stored provisions so food rationing was unlikely, but ''I would not rule it out'', said Deputy Secretary for Security Ken Woodhouse.
Nuclear expert Dr Ray Yeung Man-kit of Hong Kong University has warned that fall-out of radioactive iodine - the most likely contaminant if there was leakage from the nuclear plant - could taint vegetables for at least two months after the disaster.
And though the Government only advised thorough washing of vegetables and removal of outer leaves, human nature meant that people would probably try to buy fresh food imported from places such as Australia and the United States, which could lead to shortages.
Only five per cent of Hong Kong's fresh food could realistically be tested if radioactive fall-out affected the whole of the 50-kilometre screening zone around the plant, said senior veterinary officer Dr David Bousfield of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department.
Testing would concentrate on imports of fish, poultry, vegetables, fruit and livestock from China.