Hongkongers told to avoid 2 kinds of Japanese baby biscuits over contamination fears

Hong Kong authorities have urged residents to avoid two kinds of baby biscuits imported from Japan, as they may have been contaminated with animal faeces and have been taken off shelves.

The Centre for Food Safety announced on Friday evening that Japanese food manufacturer Morinaga had notified the government that two kinds of its baby biscuit products could have been contaminated with animal faeces.

The products in question were a batch of Manna BOLO (Plain) biscuits with a best-before date of June 26 next year, as well as Manna BOLO (Vegetable) biscuits with a best-before date of June 27 next year.

Both products were previously sold in major drugstore chains and supermarkets in the city. The importer is JFC Hong Kong.

“Upon learning of the incident, the centre immediately contacted the importer concerned for follow-up. According to the information it provided, the importer concerned has already stopped sales and removed from shelves the affected products, and voluntarily initiated recalls,” a spokesman for the centre said.

It did not elaborate on how the biscuits came to be possibly contaminated.

The spokesman urged residents to refrain from eating the products, while shops should stop selling them.