August 10, 1999
The Department of Health (DH) today (Tuesday) reminded members of the public not to buy pre-packaged foods which have passed their "use by" or "best before" dates.
A spokesman for DH said: "All pre-packaged foods which from the microbiological point of view are highly perishable, are required to be labelled with a "use by" date.
"Any person who sells food after the date shown as the "use by" date on the food label commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment."
Other pre-packaged foods which do not fall within the highly perishable category, are required to have a "best before" date.
As foods which have passed their "best before" dates are undesirable, the public are advised not to purchase them.
The spokesman explained that no restriction was placed on the sale of pre-packaged food products which had passed their "best before" dates as they were unlikely to constitute an immediate danger to health. However, inspectors of DH would advise shop management to remove such products from the shelves.
He said: "Inspectors of DH regularly check the labels of pre-packaged foods on sale in the market to ensure that they complied with the minimum durability and other legal labelling requirements.
"The other labelling requirements are names; ingredients; special conditions for storage or instructions for use; name and address of manufacturer or packer; count, weight, or volume in English or Chinese.
"If irregularities are found, warning letters will be issued or prosecutions will be taken where appropriate.
"On the minimum durability in pre-packaged foods, DH had inspected more than 17 000 labels, issued 285 warning letters and initiated five prosecutions in the last three months (May to July)."
For enquiries and complaints relating to labelling of food members of the public are requested to telephone DH on 2787 0007, 2577 3547 or 2368 8825. Follow-up actions will be actively taken.
The Foods and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations are to protect public health and consumers' right and are modelled after the recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the World Health Organization / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.