HK finds egg, biscuit samples tainted with melamine

HONG KONG, Oct. 25 (Chinese media) -- Two food products for

sale in Hong Kong, including eggs produced on a Chinese mainland farm and

biscuits produced by a Philippine firm, have been found contaminated with

melamine, local food safety watchdog said Saturday.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) said the sample of

the Select Fresh Brown Eggs (Extra Large), produced by mainland-based Dalian

Hanwei Chicken Farming Limited and sold in 6-piece packs, was found to contain

4.7 ppm (part per million) of melamine.

Under the Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment)

Regulation 2008 of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the

legal limit for melamine in food is 2.5 ppm.

The other unsatisfactory sample was the Croley Foods

Sunflower Crackers Blueberry Cream Sandwich, sold in big packs each containing

ten small individual packs with an expiry date of Dec. 5, 2008. The level of

melamine detected was 3.2 ppm.

The website of the producer Croley Foods suggests it

is based in the Philippines.

The Center for Food Safety said the two

unsatisfactory samples were among 77 samples tested, which included milk, eggs,

biscuits, cakes and cake mixes. The results, available on Saturday showed that

the rest 75 were all satisfactory.

"We have informed the food trade of the test results

and asked them to stop selling the products with unsatisfactory results. We have

also sent warning letters to the retailers and the importers concerned," the CFS

said in a statement, adding that it would " take out prosecution if there is

sufficient evidence."

The center will continue to collect samples of dairy

products and products with dairy ingredients for testing. Egg samples will also

be collected, with the tests on mainland eggs expected to be completed within

next week, the statement said.