Pasta sold in Hong Kong contains insect fragments, rodent hair and mould toxins, Consumer Council testing reveals
- Watchdog urges firms to improve hygiene measures during production after microscopic bits of dead insect among unwanted items found in pasta products
- One 225 gram serving of instant macaroni was home to 548 insect fragments, the study found
Insect fragments, rodent hair, pesticide residue and toxins from mould have been detected in samples of dried pasta sold in Hong Kong, prompting the consumer watchdog to call on producers to step up hygiene measures in the manufacturing process.
More than two-thirds of the samples contained pesticide residue and deoxynivalenol, a toxin produced by mould which frequently infects grain and can cause vomiting and diarrhoea if ingested in large amounts.
“Manufacturers need to strengthen their quality control measures to ensure a high hygiene standard from procuring wheat to producing the pasta,” council CEO Gilly Wong Fung-han told a press conference on Monday.
“They should pay attention to the hygiene levels of the wheat, especially when we are talking about insect fragments.”
While the concentrations of pesticides and deoxynivalenol detected in the samples were lower than the maximum allowed levels set by Hong Kong and the European Union, and therefore safe for human consumption, the council raised concerns that children could still suffer negative health effects in relation to the mould toxin.
Hong Kong and the EU have not set maximum acceptable standards for insect fragments in food, but the United States Food and Drug Administration considers any product containing an average of 225 fragments in 225 grams of six or more samples as “adulterated”.
