The Centre for Food Safety today reminded people, especially pregnant women and young children, not to eat large or predatory fish as they are likely to contain high mercury levels.
The centre issued the warning after it learned from the Rapid Alert System for Food & Feed of the European Commission that a kind of skin-on frozen swordfish, a predatory fish, exported from Vietnam was found to contain mercury at a level of 1.81 parts per million by Dutch authorities.
The affected product was reportedly imported to Hong Kong late last month, the centre said.
The centre has contacted the importer to ascertain if the affected product has been imported.
It will also step up surveillance on swordfish imported from Vietnam.
The Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations stipulates that the maximum permitted concentration of mercury in food is 0.5 ppm.
The reported level of mercury in the swordfish sample is unlikely to pose adverse health effects upon normal consumption, the centre added.
