The government will soon extend the scope of melamine tests to include local food products and table next month an amendment to an ordinance which will empower it to recall problematic food products.

Since the discovery of melamine in mainland-made infant formula last month, the SAR government has formed an expert group, with Secretary for Food and Health York Chow as chairman, to tackle the matter.

Over 2,500 samples were tested in less than a month, including samples of all 84 types of baby formula available in the market, Chow disclosed yesterday. Only 1 percent of the samples was found to contain melamine exceeding the statutory limit, he told a press conference.

Apart from snacks with milk ingredient from the mainland, more products with no milk content but may be subject to melamine contamination will be tested.

Given infant formula and food are more risky for pregnant/lactating women, testing of these products will continue in the second round which starts late October and lasts for two weeks.

"With a more targeted approach and increased emphasis on source control in the second round, the number of samples to be tested by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) will decrease from 100 per day to 100 per week," he announced.

"We are now more confident to tell the public that baby formula and milk products available in the market are safe".

Chow further said he would introduce an amendment bill to the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance to the Legislative Council (LegCo) next month. According to Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Cheuk Wing-hing, the amendment, if passed, will empower the government to ban or recall problematic food based on foreign laboratory reports, risk assessments and expert recommendations.

Putting public health above commercial interests, major political parties in the LegCo extended support to the amendment.

The amendment is necessary as it can minimize food hazards to people's health, Democratic Party lawmaker Fred Li said. However, he said the CFS should not reduce the number of food tests so radically. "It should only reduce the number of tests by half and seek help from universities and private laboratories if it cannot cope," he said.

Lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong, from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, supported the ordinance amendment, although it would mean an increase in the operating cost of the import and export sectors that he represents. Liberal Party's Tommy Cheung, representing the catering constituency, said the amendment was the right way but he hoped it would strike a balance between public health and the interests of the food industry.

(HK Edition 10/21/2008 page1)