Two shops were convicted and fined for selling chilled or frozen pork disguised as fresh pork, the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department said today.

The department has all along been committed to combating the sale of such pork and has taken stringent enforcement action against violations.

From January till now, it conducted 28 blitz operations against 64 fresh provision shops and public market stalls, and initiated prosecutions against a number of cases.

Among them, two shops were convicted and fined.

The fresh provision shop surrendered its licence, while the tenancy of the market stall was terminated by the department. Other prosecution cases are pending court trial.

During the same period, the department received a total of 147 complaints about the sale of chilled or frozen pork disguised as fresh pork and conducted 7,649 inspections of fresh provision shops and market stalls.

Thirty-five prosecutions were initiated against 33 fresh provision shops and market stalls for selling fresh pork and un-prepackaged chilled pork and/or restricted food in the same premises under the Food Business Regulation.

Among them, 10 cases were convicted and fined, and the remaining 25 cases are pending court trial.

The department said the live pig supply from the Mainland to Hong Kong has fallen compared to before the African swine fever epidemic.

It noted that as the price of live pigs remains high, some unscrupulous traders have sold chilled or frozen pork disguised as fresh pork for profit.

Apart from contravening the local legislation, it would cause food safety problems and be unfair to other shops which comply with the requirements, the department added.

In addition, since the number of live pigs supplied to Hong Kong from the Mainland has dropped in recent years, some fresh provision shops permitted to sell fresh pork only have applied to the department for conversion to sell chilled pork instead.

Since January, 23 relevant applications were received and all have been approved.

The department said it will process such applications as soon as possible to help the trade adapt to the changes in the business environment.