Traces of coronavirus found on frozen cuttlefish slices imported to Hong Kong from Malaysia

The discovery is only the second time that samples taken from imported foods have tested positive for the virus since last year

None of the cuttlefish had entered the local market, and the importer was ordered to disinfect their storage facility and discard the tainted batch

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The tainted frozen cuttlefish was found at the Kerry TC Warehouse 1 (pictured) on Tuesday. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:23pm, 3 Nov 2021Updated: 12:40am, 4 Nov 2021

Food and health authorities in Hong Kong have found traces of the coronavirus on imported food for just the second time since regular testing began – in this case, on sliced cuttlefish from Malaysia that had not yet entered the market.

The discovery was made during regular precautionary testing by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) on Tuesday, and was announced a day later. The result prompted a mandatory testing notice for all those who had visited the storage site at Kerry Cold Store (Hong Kong) Limited in Kwai Chung’s Kerry TC Warehouse 1 since last Friday.

The department said its Centre for Food Safety (CFS) collected 12 samples from the surface of the frozen cuttlefish slices and their packaging from a batch of 390 boxes – totalling around 3,100kg (6,834 pounds) – that was imported from Malaysia by sea.

One frozen cuttlefish surface sample and one inner packaging sample returned positive results for the virus. The batch of cuttlefish slices has been inside the warehouse in Kwai Chung since its arrival, and has not entered the market.

Upon learning of the test results on Tuesday evening, the CFS and the CHP conducted a site visit on Wednesday and asked the operator to conduct thorough cleaning and disinfection, and instructed them to dispose of the rest of the cuttlefish from the same batch.

The positive result is only the second – after one involving frozen pomfret fish last August – to be detected out of over 20,000 samples tested since last year.