The Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has launched the “mystery shopper” sampling method this year to obtain samples from F&B products and “ready-to-eat” food products for inspection, with over 250 random samples tested so far, according to an IAM statement yesterday.
Through the method, the bureau aims for food safety in Macau to be comprehensively monitored in more diverse forms while further safeguarding consumers’ safety, the statement said.
The statement noted that the method has food safety personnel act as regular consumers, buying F&B products and services of the same quality that shoppers get every day.
The method is different to general random inspections of the products, which require entry to kitchens and food processing and operational areas for hygiene inspection and sampling, the statement added.
The statement said that the method also provides a preliminary understanding of the “final sale status” of food products without interrupting business operations and helps “grasp the actual situation and eliminate risks”.
Samples are obtained, preserved and sent to the laboratory for testing, with the bureau sending its inspectors to F&B establishments whose samples failing its lab tests, according to the statement.
A follow-up investigation and another round of tests of random samples in line with established procedures will be conducted, while prevention and control measures are adopted in line with Macau’s Food Safety Law, based on the different degrees of risks involved, the statement said.
The statement pointed out that the sampling method’s main target group currently comprises F&B businesses that attract a high number of shoppers and are popular with residents and tourists. As for the samples collected by the “mystery shoppers” that have so far been inspected and tested for microbiological and other hygienic quality indicators, the statement noted that no samples needed to be further retested.
The method and its target group are continuously adjusted in line with factors such as consumption trends in the F&B market and social concerns, the statement said.
Meanwhile, for food products retailing locally, the bureau’s regular food safety supervision and random inspection work comprises the “general random inspection programme of food products sold in the market”, the “random inspection programme of food and beverage products” and the “random inspection programme of seasonal and festival food products”, with over 3,000 random food samples inspected annually, the statement said.
This image downloaded from the Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau’s (IAM) website last night shows its official logo.
