The public can rest assured that the pork being released to the market is fit for human consumption, as the monitoring of the slaughterhouse’s operation has been strengthened to ensure that the pork has passed through inspection and surveillance before release, the Food & Health Bureau said today.
Residues of veterinary drug beta-agonists were detected in urine samples from Mainland-imported pigs last week.
Investigations on the incident and review of the slaughterhouse’s operation are expected to be completed next week.
Meanwhile, the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) would ensure that pigs are slaughtered and released only after they have passed the veterinary drug tests conducted by the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department.
The bureau apologised for failing to prevent the tainted pork from reaching the market. To guard against similar incidents in future, unusual circumstances during the inspection or slaughtering process would be brought immediately to the attention of FEHD officers at management level for follow-up.
To step up surveillance of imported live pigs, the bureau will explore the feasibility of increasing the frequency of inspecting Mainland-registered farms that supply live pigs to Hong Kong.
The bureau and the FEHD met with Legislative Council members and trade representatives on the incident. The bureau is planning to convene a meeting next week to consult stakeholders of the live pig supply chain.
Hong Kong has imported more than seven million live pigs from the Mainland over the past five years. The last time beta-agonists residues were detected in urine samples from Mainland-imported live pigs was in 2012.
