The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today said 103 crocodile product samples have tested negative for COVID-19 and it considers the positive sample collected earlier at a patient’s home was likely contaminated there.

The Centre for Health Protection notified the CFS that among the environmental samples collected at a COVID-19 patient’s residence, a sample from the packaging of prepackaged frozen crocodile spare ribs imported from Thailand tested positive for the virus.

The CFS then immediately collected 103 crocodile product samples from the concerned vendor’s storage points, warehouses and retail outlets for testing. The results were negative for COVID-19 for all the samples, which included 41 food swabs and 62 packaging swabs.

Given the test results, the CFS considers that the positive sample collected from the patient’s home is more likely to have been contaminated there.

The vendor has been notified of the test results and may resume selling the product concerned.

The CFS noted that according to the World Health Organization and overseas food safety assessment authorities, it is unlikely that a novel coronavirus can be transmitted to humans via food consumption. Nevertheless, the public should always observe personal, food and environmental hygiene.

To prevent the COVID-19 virus from entering Hong Kong through imported frozen foods, the CFS has stepped up precautionary testing measures including taking samples at the Airport Food Inspection Offices and importers’ cold stores. It will also continue surveillance of imported frozen foods and their packaging to closely monitor the risk of virus spread.