October 12, 1998
The following was issued by the Department of Health (DH) in connection with the recall of two batches of Heinz baby food in Hong Kong:
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the distributor of Heinz baby food had informed the Department today that some 14,000 bottles of two batches of Heinz baby food were being recalled in Hong Kong as a result of a recall exercise advised by the US Department of Agriculture.
The recall batches were Heinz Vegetable Chicken Dinner 4 oz Code No. P3117WB and Heinz Beginners Strained Carrots 2.5 oz Code No. P31176N. The action was taken because these batches might contain elevated concentrations of lead.
"Parents who may have purchased the products in question are advised not to feed them to babies and to return them to the distributor according to arrangements made by the company.
"Retailers are asked to stop selling the recalled batches. A Consumer Hotline, tel no 2635 5951, has been set up by the distributor," the spokesman said.
He pointed out that in fact children and adults could have been exposed to low levels of lead from food and other sources. Intermittent intake of low levels of lead is unlikely to cause lead poisoning. However, there will be potential health risk if excessive levels are being taken regularly.
Parents whose children had consumed the product in question regularly for several weeks and were concerned should consult their doctors.
The spokesman said that the Department had taken actions to alert major chained food stores and supermarkets of the recall on receipt of the news report last Saturday. None of the involved batches of baby food could be found during DH's inspections.
The Department had also taken some samples of Heinz products for further testing. It would keep in close contact with the US Consulate and the distributor on further development of the issue. Advice would be given to the public where necessary.
The recall in Hong Kong would be monitored by the Department of Health together with the two municipal services departments, the spokesman added.