Following the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety’s (CFS) suspension of the import and sale of oysters from the Earl Hunters Geay FR 17.452.121 CE batch exported from France, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) issued a food alert yesterday, ordering local wholesalers and retailers to stop supplying and selling the batch.
A statement by the CFS on Wednesday quoted its spokesman as saying that it was notified by Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health of two food poisoning cases which involved the consumption of raw oysters at two restaurants. The statement added that the raw oysters were produced by Earl Huitres Geay, with the batch number FR 17.452.121 CE, in France.
An IAM statement yesterday said that the bureau was “highly” concerned about the incident, underlining that the problematic product will no longer be approved for import to Macau.
The bureau said in the statement that it will continue to “strictly” control the import and sale of live and fresh food in the local market through its “effective” import inspection and quarantine mechanism.
When water in which oysters are raised or collected has been contaminated with pathogens, these substances will accumulate in the molluscs. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems should always avoid eating raw or undercooked oysters as they are considered high-risk food, the statement said, adding that if contaminated oysters are consumed, there is a risk that they could cause consumers to get sick.
The bureau reaffirmed that all live and fresh food and products of animal origin must be pre-declared and subject to mandatory inspection and quarantine at the time of import to Macau.
This 2006 file photo shows an oyster from Huître de Marennes-Oléron in western France. – Photo courtesy of David Monniaux/Wikimedia Commons
