The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement yesterday that Listeria has been detected in boneless chicken feet (無骨鳳爪) product samples from a local food processing plant.
The bureau has ordered the establishment to cease production and supply, and recall the affected food products, the statement, adding that the bureau has also demanded that the business rectify the production and preparation processes of the problematic food items until they meet safety and hygiene requirements and pass a re-inspection.
The sample of sour and spicy lemon boneless chicken feet in question was taken from a food processing plant at Veng Kin Industrial Building in Areia Preta district. According to Macau’s “Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food,” the sample was found to contain Listeria at a level classified as “unsatisfactory”.
According to Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Listeria is commonly found in the natural environment. The bacteria may be found in some contaminated raw foods, such as vegetables and uncooked meats as well as unpasteurised milk.
A person with listeriosis usually comes down with fever, headache, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Some patients may develop severe complications such as meningoencephalitis or septicaemia. Pregnant women, newborns/infants, the elderly and persons with chronic diseases or weakened immunity are at higher risk of being infected. Although pregnant women with listeriosis are mostly asymptomatic or only develop mild symptoms, they may transmit the infection to their foetuses or newborns, resulting in miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth and septicaemia (blood poisoning) or meningitis in the newborns, according to the CHP statement.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) yesterday show a boneless chicken feet product found to contain Listeria.
