Page 433 of 485
Page 433 of 485
146
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—O.K. Let's have the Secretary to record the votes. Actually the motion has been endorsed through legal means a moment ago. Now that at the request of Councillor, I will have the votes recorded in the minutes. This is just to comfort you. Indeed, the Chairman can exercise his right and the votes are not necessarily to be recorded. Just as a matter of record, I will take down those who are for and those who are against. This is just for recording purposes. Would the Secretary take down the votes, please? Those who are in favour of the procedural motion, please raise your hands.
(The record of each Member's vote is set out in Annex 2)
(2) Mr. FRANCIS TANG CHI-HO moved the following motion:
'RESOLVED that in view of the several recent incidents of sour-tasting paper-packed drinks, the Council should review the present system of monitoring food production and the relevant legislation on food hygiene in order to prevent recurrence of similar cases; the Council should also urge the Department of Health to draw up 'guidelines on importation of food' and to review and improve the emergency measures including the method of testing and recalling problematic drinks, the means for communication and notifying the public of relevant information."
He said (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, finally it is my turn to move my motion. Before I start with my speech, actually, I am a bit afraid that after I move my motion, there will be another procedural motion. It is because my motion also involves additional manpower and amendment to existing legislation. Even so, as a directly elected Councillor, I think I should speak my mind and explain to Members what I have done since these incidents have occurred.
Recently, we had a spate of cases relating to food hygiene. At the end of last year, we had the sour-tasting soya milk by Vitasoy. When the case was dying down, there was another case that the factory of Nestle Dairy Farm company in Yuen Long was operating without a licence. On 6 February, a licence was issued to the company, but before that, due to some technical problems, some of their fresh milk were mixed with cocoa powder. The case has not been settled yet and at the same time, wrong address was discovered on the labels of their bottled fresh milk. A few days ago, complaints were received on sour and bitter taste of paper-packed fresh milk of the company. There were also complaints about the Hi-C coconut flavoured soya milk having dregs with a taste similar to that of bean curd.
These food hygiene incidents reveal that there are loopholes in the monitoring of food hygiene of large-scale food and drink manufacturers by the Department of Health and the 2 Municipal Services Departments. The Urban Council should review the existing mechanism for monitoring food hygiene
Page 433 of 485
12 of 185
Page 433 of 485
Page 433 of 485
146
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—O.K. Let's have the Secretary to record the votes. Actually the motion has been endorsed through legal means a moment ago. Now that at the request of Councillor, I will have the votes recorded in the minutes. This is just to comfort you. Indeed, the Chairman can exercise his right and the votes are not necessarily to be recorded. Just as a matter of record, I will take down those who are for and those who are against. This is just for recording purposes. Would the Secretary take down the votes, please? Those who are in favour of the procedural motion, please raise your hands.
(The record of each Member's vote is set out in Annex 2)
(2) Mr. FRANCIS TANG CHI-HO moved the following motion:
'RESOLVED that in view of the several recent incidents of sour-tasting paper-packed drinks, the Council should review the present system of monitoring food production and the relevant legislation on food hygiene in order to prevent recurrence of similar cases; the Council should also urge the Department of Health to draw up 'guidelines on importation of food' and to review and improve the emergency measures including the method of testing and recalling problematic drinks, the means for communication and notifying the public of relevant information."
He said (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, finally it is my turn to move my motion. Before I start with my speech, actually, I am a bit afraid that after I move my motion, there will be another procedural motion. It is because my motion also involves additional manpower and amendment to existing legislation. Even so, as a directly elected Councillor, I think I should speak my mind and explain to Members what I have done since these incidents have occurred.
Recently, we had a spate of cases relating to food hygiene. At the end of last year, we had the sour-tasting soya milk by Vitasoy. When the case was dying down, there was another case that the factory of Nestle Dairy Farm company in Yuen Long was operating without a licence. On 6 February, a licence was issued to the company, but before that, due to some technical problems, some of their fresh milk were mixed with cocoa powder. The case has not been settled yet and at the same time, wrong address was discovered on the labels of their bottled fresh milk. A few days ago, complaints were received on sour and bitter taste of paper-packed fresh milk of the company. There were also complaints about the Hi-C coconut flavoured soya milk having dregs with a laste similar to that of bean curd.
These food hygiene incidents reveal that there are loopholes in the monitoring of food hygiene of large-scale food and drink manufacturers by the Department of Health and the 2 Municipal Services Departments. The Urban Council should review the existing mechanism for monitoring food hygiene
Page 433 of 485
12 of 185
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