Hong Kong health authorities have blocked a batch of Taiwan-made ice cream bars from being distributed after the products were detected with bacterial counts exceeding the legal limit.
The city’s Centre for Food Safety said on Tuesday the affected products were the “Brown Sugar Boba Frozen Dessert Bars”, an 80g pre-packaged frozen confection produced by Shaomei Ice Cream in Taiwan and imported by Circle K Convenience Stores in Hong Kong, with a best-before date of July 26 next year.
The affected batch of ice cream remained in the importer’s warehouse, where it was marked and sealed to prevent its entry into the market, a centre spokesman said.
Authorities also temporarily suspended the importer’s permit to sell the product while it would investigate the issue further.
Testing by the centre found three samples contained bacterial counts of 63,000, 82,000 and 540,000 bacteria per gram respectively, exceeding the legal limit of 50,000 bacteria per gram for frozen confections.
A food safety spokesman said the elevated levels of bacteria indicated that hygiene conditions during production were unsatisfactory, but did not necessarily mean consumption would cause food poisoning.
Under the Frozen Confections Regulation, frozen confections should not contain more than 50,000 bacteria per gram. The maximum penalty for offenders is a fine of HK$10,000 (US$1,280) and three months’ imprisonment upon conviction.
Family doctor Edmund Lam Wing-wo said gastroenteritis, the inflammation of the stomach and intestines, triggered by eating contaminated food depends on one’s immunity and the quantity of the consumed item.
The causative bacteria are typically Escherichia coli (E coli) and salmonella, which enter or multiply in the product due to improper temperature during production or delivery, he added.
Upon the onset of symptoms, patients should increase their water intake to compensate for the fluid loss, Lam said.
Shaomei Ice Cream was established in 1945 in Taiwan. In 1948, the company introduced vanilla ice cream, the first ever ice cream product natively produced in the self-ruled island.
