Of the 4,700 food samples tested by the Centre for Food Safety in November, 99.6% were satisfactory. Eighteen items failed the tests.

A Romaine hearts sample and a Chinese white cabbage contained excessive cadmium while a dried fig had sorbic acid exceeding the legal limit.

Two dried raisins, two dried apricots, a dried tomato, a dried sweet potato and a skinned green chilli pepper were found to contain excessive sulphur dioxide.

Two pure cream samples from the same batch had total bacterial counts exceeding the legal limit. They were collected at import level and no stock has been released on the market.

A flour tortilla contained excessive preservative propionic acid while a baked rice with seafood sample and a baked rice with salmon and cheese sample contained the pathogen Clostridium perfringens. The centre said the detection of the pathogen could be due to improper holding temperature and inadequate cooking.

The centre has traced the food sources, asked vendors to stop selling the items and issued warning letters.

source from:www.news.gov.hk