HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 22 of 154
PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:
Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of April, 1975.
QUESTIONS
(1) MR. PETER C. K. CHAN asked the following question (in Cantonese):-
Could the Council be given a statement on the recent report which appeared in the newspapers about adulteration of peanut oil? Does the department keep a record of the number of persons prosecuted for adulterating oil and is there any health risk?
MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW, CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-
Mr. Chairman, the sale in retail shops of adulterated peanut oil was first noted by staff of the Urban Services Department in June 1974. Usually the peanut oil is imported in bulk in good condition and then adulterated with cheaper vegetable oil or lard during the stage when it is re-bottled locally for retail sale. Naturally, food sampling staff have paid particular attention to the matter, in the course of their normal duties of taking samples of various foodstuffs as a check on wholesomeness and adulteration. The actual check is carried out by the Government Chemist.
In the past 12 months, the Urban Council has prosecuted 19 persons for adulterating peanut oil. A defendant was fined $750 for this offence last month.
Cheaper vegetable oil and lard used in the adulteration are edible and there is therefore no health risk from adulterated peanut oil, other than from unhygienic conditions under which the adulterated oil is bottled. So far, there have been no indications that peanut oil is adulterated with mineral oil, some of which could be considered a health hazard.
The Food Hygiene Select Committee is aware of the situation and has decided that all establishments where edible oil is bottled or canned for wholesale should be licensable as food factories.
MR. CHAN (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask, as Mr. Edmund CHOW has just mentioned, that if peanut oil is adulterated with lard, there will be no health risk. But some people are not able to take lard, in which case is there be a health risk? As a matter of fact, lard could be a health risk to some people.
(Dr. P. C. WONG arrived at this point.)
CHAIRMAN (in English):- Mr. Chow, you are at liberty to decline to answer any supplementary question not within the framework of the original question.
MR. CHOW (in Cantonese):- I would like to answer this question. I am aware of the situation and I would inform the department, the Assistant Director of the Department, to collect the necessary information for the Select Committee to make a decision.
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):- Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Chairman of the Committee, through you, whether in the case where no health hazard can be proved, is it an offence to adulterate peanut oil with lard or cheaper vegetable oil and to sell the resulting mixture as peanut oil when no health hazard can be proved?
MR. CHOW (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, as to the question by Mr. Kenneth Lo, I have to discuss with the department before I can answer it.
(2) MR. F. K. Hu asked the following question (in English):
As the protective work to the face of the rock and earth slope at the south-west corner of the Hong Kong Stadium has to be carried out for safety reasons, may the Council be informed-
(a) when will this work be carried out and how long will it last,
(b) how many sections of the Stadium will be closed when the work is in progress.
12
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 22 of 154
13
PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:
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Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of April, 1975.
QUESTIONS
(1) MR. PETER C. K. CHAN asked the following question (in Can- tonese):-
Could the Council be given a statement on the recent report which appeared in the newspapers about adulteration of peanut oil? Does the department keep a record of the number of persons prosecuted for adulterating oil and is there any health risk?
MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW, CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-
Mr. Chairman, the sale in retail shops of adulterated peanut oil was first noted by staff of the Urban Services Depart- ment in June 1974. Usually the peanut oil is imported in bulk in good condition and then adulterated with cheaper vegetable oil or lard during the stage when it is re-bottled locally for retail sale. Naturally, food sam- pling staff have paid particular attention to the matter, in the course of their normal duties of taking samples of various foodstuffs as a check on wholesomeness and adulteration. The actual check is carried out by the Government Chemist.
In the past 12 months, the Urban Council has prosecuted 19 persons for adulterating peanut oil. A defendant was fined $750 for this offence last month.
Cheaper vegetable oil and lard used in the adulteration are edible and there is therefore no health risk from adul- terated peanut oil, other than from unhygienic conditions under which the adulterated oil is bottled. So far, there have been no indications that peanut oil is adulterated with mineral oil, some of which could be considered a health hazard.
The Food Hygiene Select Committee is aware of the situation and has decided that all establishments where edible oil is bottled or canned for wholesale should be licensable as food factories.
MR. CHAN (in Cantonese): -Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask, as Mr. Edmund CHOW has just mentioned, that if peanut oil is adul- terated with lard, there will be no health risk. But some people are not able to take lard, in which case is there be a health risk? As a matter of fact, lard could be a health risk to some people.
(Dr. P. C. WONG arrived at this point.)
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Mr. Chow, you are at liberty to decline to answer any supplementary question not within the framework of the original question.
MR. CHOW (in Cantonese):-I would like to answer this question. I am aware of the situation and I would inform the department, the Assistant Director of the Department, to collect the necessary informa- tion for the Select Committee to make a decision.
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Chairman of the Committee, through you, whether in the case where no health hazard can be proved, is it an offence to adulterate peanut oil with lard or cheaper vegetable oil and to sell the resulting mixture as peanut oil when no health hazard can be proved?
MR. CHOW (in Cantonese): -Mr. Chairman, as to the question by Mr. Kenneth Lo, I have to discuss with the department before I can answer it.
(2) MR. F. K. Hu asked the following question (in English);·
As the protective work to the face of the rock and earth slope at the south-west corner of the Hong Kong Stadium has to be carried out for safety reasons, may the Council be informed-
(a) when will this work be carried out and how long will
it last,
(b) how many sections of the Stadium will be closed
when the work is in progress.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.