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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

(b) Has the Council taken the move to instruct the Urban Services Department to investigate if the hearsay is true? If it has asked the Department to investigate, what is the result? Should what has been said be true, what measure will the Council adopt to safeguard the health of the public?

MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN, CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English): -

Mr. Chairman, only yesterday did the Council receive its first complaint about the injection of water into beef, and it will now take steps to issue an instruction on the subject. The hearsay is unfortunately true. The normal method of such cheating (the object of which is to add weight to the meat) is to put water under pressure into the aorta, from which it passes along the arteries and veins, then penetrates the tissues.

This malpractice is an offence under the Food Business By- laws (and relevant New Territories Regulations) and field officers of the Department are constantly keeping a close watch for such offences. So far there has not been any court case in the urban areas, but there have been cases in the New Territories.

MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I wish to ask Mr. SIN about the malpractice. Would it be possible that people use this kind of thing (displayed tubing and paraphernalia) to inject water into the beef? And also about the complaint received yesterday I wish to know whether there was another case which was the first case, or because I asked the question and my question men- tioned the first case, and I wish to know what kind of steps are being taken?

MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):-To answer Mr. CHOW'S question in two parts. Part A, that is to say whether his question was the first complaint. The answer is "NO". Yesterday, we received for the first time a complaint. As regards the second part, I under- stand, that one can only find out or discover the offence by catching the offender red-handed. In other words, seeing him in action.

MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, could I know if the field staff of our Department are keeping a close watch for such offences. I wish to know what kind of watch? Are they

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inspecting the beef or is the department sending out people to find out whether there are such malpractices or has the department any inten- tion to inform the citizens here and to tell them how to differentiate between injected beef and non-injected beef, and is there any guarantee that on knowing such offence to send the offender to the Court?

MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):—A long question and I hope I can remember what the question was about. As I understand it, it is extremely difficult to tell by just inspecting the meat to see whether it has been saturated with water and the only way to find out is to be As to the second able to see the man putting water into the aorta. part, as I said before, the only way to discover offence is to keep a close watch physically.

MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW (in Cantonese): -Mr. Chairman, Mr. SIN mentioned that the offence can only be proved by seeing the offender committing the offence. Can we use any scientific method to make analysis, for instance, we can find out what is the water percentage in beef, and after the beef has been injected, of course, the percentage would be higher. Would there be another way?

MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I am not in a position to answer that question.

CHAIRMAN (in English):-Yes, Mr. Peter C. K. CHAN.

MR. PETER C. K. CHAN (in English):-There has been a certain way of penalizing licensees when they maintain a butcher shop in a dirty condition. May the Select Committee consider imposing heavier penalty like suspension of licence for those fresh provision shops they find guilty of committing this offence, which is not only unhygienic but is also cheating. Can this be considered by the Select Committee?

If

CHAIRMAN (in English):-All these supplementary questions are most interesting because the subject is of great public interest at the moment. However, they are not within the context of the original question. By and large, they will be referred to the Select Committee and the Department and will be given very serious consideration. there are no other supplementary questions, before we proceed to the next item, I would like to say how impressed I have been by the skill with which our colleague, Mr. Cнow, handled that equipment. My compliments to you and I hope that the department will be able to call upon you to give a demonstration at the right time. (Laughter)

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