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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
He said (in Cantonese):-Since the afternoon of 10 March when the Department of Health announced that during a routine food inspection exercise, a sample of minced beef taken from a large retail shop was found to contain e-coli bacteria, the general public has become shocked and very concerned. The bacteria overwhelmed Japan last year and out of 10,000 people infected within a short period of two months, 11 died. As such, this Council as the inspection authority for food hygiene and the licensing authority should not treat the discovery of E-coli O-157 H7 lightly.
After the incident, I wrote to the Chairman, Urban Council the following day in my capacity as the Vice-Chairman of the Public Health Select Committee requesting an emergency discussion by the Whole Council in conjunction with various departments concerned. Later on, replies from the Director of Urban Services and Director of Health were received. The detailed precautionary measures taken by their respective departments. A paper was subsequently presented by the Urban Services Department for discussion of the E-coli O-157 H7 bacteria incident. When discussions were held on 2 April at the Public Health Select Committee, constructive recommendations were made. It is now more than 30 days after the discovery of E-coli O-157 H7 on 10 March. Apart from the Department of Health having detected the bacteria in one more sample, there has not been new discovery. This is attributable to the alert of the public on food hygiene and the effectiveness of precautionary measures by departments, but then to a certain extent, it has to do with the good luck of the community. As the body to safeguard food hygiene and safety, this Council cannot just rely on good fortune.
Indeed, there was detailed discussion at the meeting of the Public Health Select Committee held on 2 April in regard to the paper on e-coli bacteria prepared by the Department. Consensus was reached in regard to several follow-up matters. However, from the point of stepping up alertness to infectious bacteria as a matter of policy, there is need for the Council to hold a motion debate targeted at the formulation of a more comprehensive policy to enforce better food hygiene inspection in a more pro-active, forward-looking attitude supported by a wider visionary approach. To this end, I think the Council must at least consider 3 issues:
1. Should the Urban Council and the Public Health Select Committee responsible for food hygiene matters promptly be told of handling by relevant departments on learning that infectious bacteria had been detected in food samples? Should there be a meeting with the relevant departments in the first instance to study into ways to tackle the problem? If the Urban Council has not played that role, does it mean it has not fulfilled its duties? On this front, the Urban Council responsible for formulation of policy and the Urban Services Department responsible for implementation of policy should step up cooperation.
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