The Centre for Food Safety has warned that aluminium-containing food additives are widely used in certain food products in Hong Kong.
Its recent study took 309 samples from the local market of food items that were found in a 2009 study to contain moderate to high levels of aluminium.
The products containing relatively high concentrations of aluminium included steamed bread, buns and cakes, waffles, and ready-to-eat form jellyfish.
For non-ready-to-eat items, cake and pancake mixes and powder mixes for bakery and fried food products contained a relatively high mean aluminium concentration.
Compared with the previous study, a decrease in the mean aluminium concentration was found in 59% of food items, whereas 38% showed an increase.
The main dietary source of aluminium from different food groups was similar to the previous study, with steamed bread, buns and cakes contributing 71% of the overall dietary exposure, compared to 60% in the previous study.
This is followed by bakery products at 21% compared to 23%, and ready-to-eat form jellyfish at 7% compared to 10%.
Noting that some studies indicate aluminium compounds can have developmental toxicity effects, the centre said it will work with the industry to lower the dietary exposure of the element and formulate guidelines to that effect.
It advised consumers to maintain a balanced diet to avoid excessive exposure to aluminium from a small range of food items.
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