Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng said yesterday that the council has completed its discussion of a by-law on the standards for the use of food colouring in food.
The council is the government’s top advisory body.
Government-drafted by-laws, officially known as administrative regulations, do not require the legislature’s approval.
Addressing a press conference at Government Headquarters, Leong noted that the Food Safety Law requires food businesses (such as the production, processing, import, export and sale of all kinds of food items) to meet official food safety standards. The law – which came into force in 2013 – requires the government to draft different aspects of food safety standards in the form of by-laws, Leong noted.
Leong said that, in general, food colouring does not cause damage to human health if it has been approved by a safety assessment and is used correctly in accordance with good manufacturing practice.
Leong said that in recent years, however, there have been food safety incidents in various places caused by the use in food of industrial dyes that were not subject to a safety assessment.
According to Article 7 of the Food Safety Law, the city’s food safety standards are required to cover aspects such as: 1) standards for maximum levels of pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metals, radioactive substances and other substances harmful to human health contained in foodstuff; 2) types of food additives, the scopes in which they are allowed to be used and the limits on their use; 3) requirements for nutritional ingredients of foodstuff intended exclusively for infants and children or for other specific groups of people.
Also addressing yesterday’s press conference, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Administrative Committee member Ung Sau Hong said that the standards for the use of food colouring is the eighth food safety standard drafted by her bureau as required by Article 7 of the law. She added that her bureau will finish drafting a number of food safety standards such as flavouring agents, preservatives, pesticide residues and heavy metals.
According to Leong, the by-law lists the food colourings that are allowed to be used in food items, and specifies how these food colourings are to be used in food production or processing.
Leong also said that the by-law bans the use of food colouring in raw or unprocessed meats, aquatic products, fruit and vegetables, as well as in foodstuff for infants.
Ung said that before the announcement of the by-law on the standards for the use of food colouring, her bureau carried out a city-wide investigation and found that the food items on sale in local markets met the official standards.
Ung did not say when the by-law will take effect. Customarily, by-laws come into force a day after their promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).
Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Administrative Committee member Ung Sau Hong (right) speaks during yesterday’s press conference about the government’s food colouring standards by-law, while Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng looks on, at Government Headquarters. Photo: Tony Wong
