A total of 19 canned meat samples from 19 related brands were sampled by the Hong Kong Food Safety Center in Hong Kong, China, for testing in response to recent reports of the presence of veterinary drug residues in canned meat. Following the announcement on December 3 of the results of 11 samples of nitrofurans, the Food Safety Center announced the remaining results on December 7.

 

Nineteen samples included twelve lunch meats, three spiced diced pork, one braised spareribs, one braised pork, one shredded fried meat and one cooked meat. Except for three samples, the other sixteen samples did not contain nitrofuran and malachite green.

 

Among the three problematic samples, the Food Safety Center had previously published a sample of "Shanghai Meilin B2 Lunch Meat (Low Sodium)" (340 grams) containing trace nitrofuran metabolites. Two samples of veterinary drug residues have just been detected:

 

* "Meilin Brand Braised spareribs" (397g), containing trace nitrofuran metabolites (0.016 parts per million), were detected before August 17, 2010, and the batch number was T12 10; and

 

* Meilin Lunch Meat (198g) was found to contain Trace Malachite Green (0.06 ppm). It was eaten before June 8, 2010 and the batch number was M1 8.

 

According to the existing legislation, malachite green is not allowed in food.

 

A spokesman for the Food Safety Center said it was unacceptable for food to contain nitrofurans and malachite green because long-term intake of these chemicals posed a cancer risk. The content of nitrofurans and malachite green detected this time is low, and the public will not cause adverse effects on health under normal eating conditions. The general agent will take the initiative to recycle and stop the food, and the center will continue to follow up the incident. We have informed the mainland of the results of the inspection so as to follow up.