The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) has banned the sale and import of hairy crabs from two aquaculture farms in the mainland, after two hairy crab samples were found to be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals in Hong Kong.
Hairy crab is known as ‘da zha xie’ in Putonghua.
The Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong announced on Tuesday that two of five hairy crab samples it tested were found to contain excessive levels of dioxin and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls.
Both are highly toxic chemical compounds that can cause cancer and damage the reproductive and immune systems, Hong Kong media quoted experts as saying.
The affected samples originated from two aquaculture farms on Lake Tai in Jiangsu province, according to the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong.
This undated file photo shows hairy crabs from Lake Tai in Jiangsu province on sale in Macau. – Photo: MPDG
