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Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong
Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont
Review
Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong Xuli Wu a, *, Ye Ye a, Dongsheng Hu a, Zhigang Liu a, Jijuan Cao b a b
School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Nanhai Ave 3688, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province 518060, China Liaoning Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureu, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116001, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 4 May 2013 Received in revised form 31 August 2013 Accepted 14 September 2013
Hong Kong is the top food safety city in China. It is a large consumer-oriented city, with more than 95% of the food imported from abroad. The overall food safety rate has been 99.7% for the past 6 years. This paper discusses food safety assurance system in Hong Kong, specifically the food safety status of Hong Kong, its food safety regulation agencies and food safety assurance systems. The food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong developed to protect consumers could benefit China as a whole and other developing countries. Crown Copyright Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hong Kong Food safety Assurance systems
Contents 1. 2. 3.
4.
5.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Status of food safety in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 Organization system of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 3.1. Functions of Hong Kong’s official food regulation agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 3.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143 4.1. Hygiene licensing system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 4.2. Categorized management system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.4. Food safety risk analysis and communication system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.5. Food-tracking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
1. Introduction Hong Kong, a special administrative region in China, is a large consumer-oriented international city with a population approaching 7.1 million (Census and Statistics Department Bulletin, 2012). Hong Kong’s tourism industry is very prosperous, with a record almost 42 million visitors in 2011 (http://www.yearbook.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 755 86671909; fax: þ86 755 86671901. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (X. Wu).
gov.hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). This megacity demands an enormous quantity of different kinds of food, more than 95% of which is imported from abroad (http://www.yearbook.gov. hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). Food safety is a complex issue in China, presenting challenges to central government regulators. It has affected people’s health and has significantly influenced China’s food trade and international reputation (Liu, Xie, Zhang, Cao, & Pei, 2013). As a “food paradise,” Hong Kong was first in the list of the top top 10 food safety cities in China in 2012 (China Institute of City Competitiveness, 2012). Hong Kong is famous for its food safety; the overall food safety rate was 99.7% for the past 6 years and was due to the city’s effective food safety
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X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145
Table 1 Food safety report issued by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) from 2007 to 2012. Year
No. of reports
No. of samples tested
No. of qualifications
Quality rate (%)
2007a 2008a 2009a 2010a 2011a 2012a Total
6 6 12 12 12 12 60
65,000 65,300 60,500 61,300 1,26,900 1,15,500 4,94,500
64,676 65,067 60,285 61,131 1,26,723 1,15,385 4,93,267
99.50% 99.64% 99.64% 99.72% 99.86% 99.90% 99.75%
a Source of data: Food Safety Report of Centre of Food Safety of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region (2007e2012), http://www.cfs.gov.hk/ eindex.html.
assurance systems. Therefore, studying the food safety control system of Hong Kong would benefit China in general. Effective food safety assurance systems are essential to maintain the safety of domestic food and the safety of exported and imported food (Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization, 2006). We collected comprehensive relevant information concerning the food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong and investigated the supervisory system of total food safety in Hong Kong. 2. Status of food safety in Hong Kong From 2009, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) has released the “Food Safety Report” every month to allow the public to obtain the latest food safety information. CFS has a fairly sound three-tier food surveillance (targeted food surveillance, routine food surveillance and seasonal food surveillance). All the samples were collected in retail, wholesale and import levels for chemica, radiological approach and microbiological tests. According to the food safety reports issued by the CFS from 2007 to 2012 (Table 1), 494,500 food samples were tested: 493,267 were found satisfactory and the overall rate was 99.75%. About 80,000 food samples were tested, with 10 samples per 1000 people in 1 year. The food surveillance programme revealed that the overall satisfactory rate of food products in Hong Kong was maintained at a high level. 3. Organization system of food safety assurance in Hong Kong 3.1. Functions of Hong Kong’s official food regulation agencies The HKSAR is separated into executive, legislative, and judicial powers. In the administrative structure, the decision-making and executive functions are separated. The HKSAR contains 12 policy bureaus, comprising 59 executive agencies. These policy bureaus are responsible for making policies and presenting bills. Executive agencies under the bureaus are responsible for executing policies and legislation. The directors of the policy bureaus are accountable to the Chief Executive; each secretary of the executive agencies is accountable to their director. The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) is the policy bureau in charge of food safety assurance and has the largest of staff in the HKSAR. Its function is to formulate relevant policies of food safety and provide high-quality health, food and environmental hygiene services for Hong Kong. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), and the Government Laboratory (GL) are the executing agencies in charge of specific work of food safety supervision. Here we summarize supervisory system for food safety in HKSAR in detail (Fig. 1).
The AFCD is primarily responsible for managing and promoting local agricultural products. In the food safety areas, this agency is mainly responsible for standardizing breeding of food agricultural products, preventing abuse of agricultural and veterinary products and monitoring animal disease and medication residue in animals. Because the local agriculture in Hong Kong is small and most of the food is supplied from outside the region, the primary responsibility for food safety supervision is the FEHD. The responsibilities of the FEHD are to maintain a clean and hygienic living environment for people and ensure that the food sold is safe. The CFS was established by the FEHD in 2006 as a specialized government agency mainly responsible for food safety supervision from “farm to table,” except for local farm products. The CFS consists of the Food Surveillance and Control Division (FSCD), the Risk Assessment and Communication Division (RACD) and the Centre Administration Division (CAD). The chief missions of the CFS are as follows:
Food surveillance and certification Safety control of imported food Safety control of live food animals Management of Food Incidents Handling Food Complaints Assessing risks of certain categories of food Risk Communication Advises on food standards.
The GL is the only independent authoritative inspection agency in HKSAR; it provides a full range of analytical, investigatory and advisory services and support to enable departments and bureaus of the HKSAR to meet their responsibilities for law and order, public health and safety, environmental protection, government revenue, consumer interests and implementation of government policies. In food safety, the Food Safety and Quality Group (FSQG) of the GL provides testing services to support regular food surveillance. Test items of food safe supplied from GL are all certified by the Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS), and all the data collected by the GL can be used as legal evidence for enforcement action and indictment. Independence is an important guarantee for food safety (Lia, Qia, & Liu, 2010). The GL is independent of other functional departments of HKSAR, which is the outstanding feature different from administrations in mainland China and other countries. Besides the GL, the FSCD and FEHD also have agencies for food safety inspection, but these agencies have a clear division of work without repetitive detection and overlapping functions. According to specialty, detection relating to veterinary issues belong to the Veterinary Assay Office (VAO) of the FSCD, human disease and microbiology belong to the Sanitary Inspection Office (SIO) of the FEHD, and biological and chemical analyses belong to the GL. Test items and detection devices of these agencies do not overlap. 3.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance in Hong Kong The most important feature of the Hong Kong safety assurance system is a unifying management with a high degree of centralization. The objective of food safety has been proposed to provide a target for operational food safety management in the whole food safety supply line “from farm to table”, including “planting and breeding”, “processing and manufacturing”, “circulating” and “consuming” (Peter, 2008). This relatively single mode of food safety supervision adopted by the HKSAR is comprehensive and efficient. Food safety supervision agencies and detection agencies are attached to the same policy bureau. The FEHD is in complete charge of strategic decision making for food safety, formulating
X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145
143
FHB
Local Agriculture Imported farm produce
AFCD
Production FEHD
Storage and Distribution
GL
From Farm to Table
DH
Preparation, Catering and Consumption
It provides testing services to support the regular food surveillance
Additives, Contaminants and Composition Section Residues Section Food Complaint Section Outsourcing Management Section
FSQG Strategic Development Section Trace Elements Section Quality Management Section Risk Management Section Food Surveillance and Control Division
CFS
Food Import and Export Section Food Surveillance and Complain Section Food Chemistry Section
Centre Administration
Veterinary Public Health Section
Division Slaughterhouse (Veterinary) Section Risk Assessment Section Risk Assessment and
Risk Communication Section
Communication Food Research Laboratory Section Inspection and Quarantine Branch
(Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) AFCD, (Centre for Food Safety) CFS, (Deparment of Health) DH,
Agricutre Branch
(Government Laboratory) GL, (Food and Health Bureau) FHB, (Food and Environmental Hygiene Department) FEHD,
Fisheries Branch
(Food Safety and Quality Group) FSQG
Fig. 1. Supervisory system for food safety of Hong Kong.
relevant policies about food management, which is different from the regulation styles of mainland China. The food safety management system of China has been based on a segmented supervision model since the 1980s, with safety regulated by 8 official departments (Jia & Jukes, 2013). Different regulation departments are assigned to control different links in the food supply chain. However, the system involves many departments, which barely connect, and regulatory “blind spots” arise in the food safety chain as a result of overlapping functions, overstaffing, divorce of powers and responsibilities and duplicate law enforcement (Wu et al., 2010). The food safety assurance system in Hong Kong is a single department of unified management with a high degree of centralization, which can avoid the above defects. In March 2013，the State Council of the People’s Republic of China established the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)
to integrate the functions of the State Food Safety Office, the State Food and Drug Administration Department, inspection processes of the Inspection and Quarantine Department and the food safety supervision and management functions of the Industry and Commerce Department. The responsibility of this new department is to supervise food safety in production, circulation or consumption. It is hoped that this new system will be effectively implemented for each step of the food chain in China. 4. Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong 4.1. Hygiene licensing system The FEHD is the licensing authority for food businesses. It also issues permits for the sale of restricted foods, such as Chinese herbal
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X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145
tea, milk, frozen confections, sushi, sashimi, lo mei and siu mei, as well as licences for places of public entertainment such as theatres, cinemas and entertainment machine centres. It issues licences for private swimming pools and commercial bathhouses as well as factories engaged in slaughtering food animals. All food business need to obtain a license from the FEHD; unlicensed business activity is illegal. The FEHD can issue a provisional license for 6 months to restaurants that wish to open immediately, but they need to confirm the license officially when the related facilities are complete. 4.2. Categorized management system On the basis of the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (including risk assessment, risk management and risk communication principles), FEHD classifies food businesses as low risk (Class I), moderate risk (Class II) or high risk (Class III), according to the potential risks. The order of assessment of risk class is as follows: any previous illegal behaviours, food poisoning incidents, or disqualifications during previous inspection. The frequency of inspections is based on the risk class: lowrisk locations are inspected once every 5 months, moderate-risk locations once every 2.5 months and high-risk locations every month. The FEHD inspects food stalls every 2 weeks and increases the inspection frequency as required. The evaluation and management according to potential risks agrees with the principle of management at different levels for food hygiene supervision, which is used by many developed countries (Mensah & Julien, 2011). However, the FEHD adds further quantification and programming management by applying the demerit point system in the inspections; the demerit point is used to decide sanctions, but warnings are given before sanctions. For example, the FEHD will revoke a temporary license for 7 days if the food business premise loses 15 demerit points in 12 months and will revoke a temporary license for 14 days with more than 15 demerit points; it will permanently revoke a license with repeated accumulation of 15 demerit points. 4.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme The FEHD implemented a hygiene manager and supervisor scheme to intensify the emphasis on responsibility of food safety. The FEHD stipulated that all the food business premises must appoint a hygiene manager or a hygiene supervisor. This person must obtain related training certification from professional training institutions before starting the job. The training is different from the training of normal staff because it improves the management of food hygiene and also intensifies the consciousness of food safety, which prevents governmental departments from supervising as housekeepers. The hygiene manager is responsible for supervising the sanitation of operating staff, the environment and food, especially for safety of high-risk food. The hygiene supervisor is responsible for supervising and guiding operating staff especially in processing lower-risk food. The hygiene manager and supervisor should accompany the FEHD inspectors during inspection; otherwise the enterprise will lose demerit points. 4.4. Food safety risk analysis and communication system Risk analysis is the most effective tool for managing food safety, which has gained international acceptance (FAO/WHO, 1995, pp. 13e17, 2006, p. ix). The CFS applies risk analysis and evaluation for food safety assurance, which attaches importance to pre-control. First, the CFS adopts risk analysis methods to ensure food safety. Risk assessment must involve high-quality data (Lozowicka, Jankowska, & Kaczynski, 2012). Each year, about 80,000 food
samples are tested, with 10 samples per 1000 people. The CFS adopts appropriate risk management practices according to the evaluation system. Second, it closely monitors the news for 40 food and health agency websites. If it finds any food safety incidents, it will start the mode of risk analysis immediately, and consumers can also obtain timely information from the Internet. Third, the CFS launches special inspection of the problem or suspicious foods and establishes safety standards, reinforces risk analysis and intensifies enforcement of laws on these foods. The HKSAR implements an information release system and offers complete food safety information. Effective risk communication can inform consumers without causing panic (McEntire & Boateng, 2012). The HKSAR attaches great importance to information disclosure. Disclosures on food safety are timely and effective and are implemented in 2 ways. First, announcements are published on the CFS website. The CFS publishes a “Food Safety Report” and “Food Safety Focus” on the website every month. It releases the test results for various foods from time to time, and if it finds any problem food, it will send food alerts on the “Food Alert”. Second, the CFS uses other ways to notify citizens, including newspapers, educational brochures, and industry guidelines. Moreover, the FEHD publicizes the knowledge of food safety through the Health Education Exhibition and health talks. The CFS has a Communication Resource Unit in the Municipal Services Building that organises food safety programmes and provides technical support to people in the food trade and the public; the unit fully records the requirements and complaints of citizens, thus enhancing intercommunication with the public. For example, at the end of 2011, the CFS received a complaint from the Centre for Health Protection attached to the Department of Health about 2 suspected complaints from drinking a dairy product. It immediately collected the relevant samples for testing from the complainants and the retail stores. Laboratory results showed that 5 samples contained toluol, phenylethane and xylene, at 1.2, 1 and 5 mg/kg, respectively. Although the content of the contaminated chemicals of this brand of milk was not beyond the acceptable content for daily intake of standard drinking water containing toluene, ethybenzene and xylene instituted by the World Health Organisation, the HKSAR appealed to citizens on TV, the radio, in newspapers and on the Internet not to drink the dairy product with suspected contamination. It also directed all related stores to immediately stop selling the product and recalled all the commercial dairy products. There was no hazard in the food, but the HKSAR released the information and dealt with it at the first moment. Thus, the HKSAR attaches importance to food safety risk analysis and communication. 4.5. Food-tracking system The Food Safety Ordinance of Hong Kong came into effect on August 1, 2011. It provides a food-tracing mechanism to help the government trace food sources effectively and deal quickly with food incidents. It includes a registration scheme for food importers and food distributors and a record-keeping requirement relating to the acquisition and supply of food by food traders. The rules state that the food importers and food distributors should be registered with FEHD. Anyone who wants to import, acquire or wholesale the food must keep records of the food and the trade record. They should keep records of live aquatic trades and the food guarantee period for 3 months. If the food guarantee period is over 3 months, companies must keep records for 24 months. 5. Conclusions Food safety has become a sensitive and global issue. The systems we describe have been commonly practiced in Hong Kong, with
X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145
great success, and can serve as a model for other large cities. The characteristic of the food safety assurance system in Hong Kong involves 3 aspects: 1) a single unified management department with a high degree of centralization, 2) risk analysis to implement continued surveillance and categorize management, and 3) close government liaison with industry and consumers. The food safety assurance system in Hong Kong matches the territorial environment, food supply and urban size of Hong Kong, so mainland China and other regions could consider these features and benefit from them. Acknowledgements This study was supported in part by research funding from the Natural Science Funding of Guangdong Province (no. S2012010008514) and Shenzhen Funding for Technology Development Project (no. CXZZ20130320165017541) to Xuli Wu, and the Key Laboratory Project of Shenzhen (no. SW201110010) to Zhigang Liu. References Census and statistics department of the government of the Hong Kong speciala adminstrative region (CSD) bulletin(4 July 2012). Available at http://www. censtatd.gov.hk/gb/?param¼b5uniS&url¼http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/m/o.jsp.
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China Institute of City Competitiveness (CICC). (10 Oct 2012). Year book of China city competitiveness 2012. Available at http://www.china-citynet.com/yjh/en/ zgcsjzlnj_show.asp?id¼13. FAO/WHO. (1995). Application of risk analysis to food standards issues. Report of joint FAO/WHO expert consultation. Geneva, Switzerland. FAO/WHO. (2006). Food safety risk analysis. A guide for national food safety authorities. FAO food and nutrition paper, 87. FAO & WHO. (2006). Strengthening national food control systems: Guidelines to assess capacity building needs. FAO/WHO Publications. Available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/ docrep/fao/009/a0601e/a0601e00.pdf. Food and environmental hygiene department of the government of the Hong Kong speciala adminstrative region (FEHD) bulletin(29 June 2012). Available at http:// www.cfs.gov.hk/english/press/2012_06_29_1_e.html. Hong Kong Special Administrate Region (HKSAR). (2013). Yearbook of Hong Kong 2011. Available at http://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2011/sc/index.html. Jia, C. H., & Jukes, D. (2013). The national food safety control system of China e a systematic review. Food Control, 32, 236e245. Lia, Y. H., Qia, R. G., & Liu, H. Y. (2010). Designing independent regulatory system of food safety in China. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 1, 288e295. Liu, S., Xie, Z. M., Zhang, W. W., Cao, X., & Pei, X. F. (2013). Risk assessment in Chinese food safety. Food Control, 30, 162e167. Lozowicka, B., Jankowska, M., & Kaczynski, P. (2012). Pesticide residues in Brassica vegetables and exposure assessment of consumers. Food Control, 25, 561e575. Mensah, L. D., & Julien, D. (2011). Implementation of food safety management systems in the UK. Food Control, 22, 1216e1225. McEntire, J., & Boateng, A. (2012). Industry challenge to best practice risk communication. Journal of Food Science, 77, 111e117. Peter, R. (2008). Total food safety: how good practices can contributes. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 19, 405e412. Wu, X. L., Wu, H., Xia, L. X., Ji, K. M., Liu, Z. G., Chen, J. J., et al. (2010). Socio-technical innovations for total food chain safety during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics and beyond. Trends Food Science and Technology, 21, 44e51.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont
Review
Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong Xuli Wu a, *, Ye Ye a, Dongsheng Hu a, Zhigang Liu a, Jijuan Cao b a b
School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Nanhai Ave 3688, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province 518060, China Liaoning Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureu, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116001, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 4 May 2013 Received in revised form 31 August 2013 Accepted 14 September 2013
Hong Kong is the top food safety city in China. It is a large consumer-oriented city, with more than 95% of the food imported from abroad. The overall food safety rate has been 99.7% for the past 6 years. This paper discusses food safety assurance system in Hong Kong, specifically the food safety status of Hong Kong, its food safety regulation agencies and food safety assurance systems. The food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong developed to protect consumers could benefit China as a whole and other developing countries. Crown Copyright Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hong Kong Food safety Assurance systems
Contents 1. 2. 3.
4.
5.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Status of food safety in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 Organization system of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 3.1. Functions of Hong Kong’s official food regulation agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 3.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143 4.1. Hygiene licensing system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 4.2. Categorized management system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.4. Food safety risk analysis and communication system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 4.5. Food-tracking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
1. Introduction Hong Kong, a special administrative region in China, is a large consumer-oriented international city with a population approaching 7.1 million (Census and Statistics Department Bulletin, 2012). Hong Kong’s tourism industry is very prosperous, with a record almost 42 million visitors in 2011 (http://www.yearbook.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 755 86671909; fax: þ86 755 86671901. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (X. Wu).
gov.hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). This megacity demands an enormous quantity of different kinds of food, more than 95% of which is imported from abroad (http://www.yearbook.gov. hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). Food safety is a complex issue in China, presenting challenges to central government regulators. It has affected people’s health and has significantly influenced China’s food trade and international reputation (Liu, Xie, Zhang, Cao, & Pei, 2013). As a “food paradise,” Hong Kong was first in the list of the top top 10 food safety cities in China in 2012 (China Institute of City Competitiveness, 2012). Hong Kong is famous for its food safety; the overall food safety rate was 99.7% for the past 6 years and was due to the city’s effective food safety
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Table 1 Food safety report issued by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) from 2007 to 2012. Year
No. of reports
No. of samples tested
No. of qualifications
Quality rate (%)
2007a 2008a 2009a 2010a 2011a 2012a Total
6 6 12 12 12 12 60
65,000 65,300 60,500 61,300 1,26,900 1,15,500 4,94,500
64,676 65,067 60,285 61,131 1,26,723 1,15,385 4,93,267
99.50% 99.64% 99.64% 99.72% 99.86% 99.90% 99.75%
a Source of data: Food Safety Report of Centre of Food Safety of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region (2007e2012), http://www.cfs.gov.hk/ eindex.html.
assurance systems. Therefore, studying the food safety control system of Hong Kong would benefit China in general. Effective food safety assurance systems are essential to maintain the safety of domestic food and the safety of exported and imported food (Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization, 2006). We collected comprehensive relevant information concerning the food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong and investigated the supervisory system of total food safety in Hong Kong. 2. Status of food safety in Hong Kong From 2009, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) has released the “Food Safety Report” every month to allow the public to obtain the latest food safety information. CFS has a fairly sound three-tier food surveillance (targeted food surveillance, routine food surveillance and seasonal food surveillance). All the samples were collected in retail, wholesale and import levels for chemica, radiological approach and microbiological tests. According to the food safety reports issued by the CFS from 2007 to 2012 (Table 1), 494,500 food samples were tested: 493,267 were found satisfactory and the overall rate was 99.75%. About 80,000 food samples were tested, with 10 samples per 1000 people in 1 year. The food surveillance programme revealed that the overall satisfactory rate of food products in Hong Kong was maintained at a high level. 3. Organization system of food safety assurance in Hong Kong 3.1. Functions of Hong Kong’s official food regulation agencies The HKSAR is separated into executive, legislative, and judicial powers. In the administrative structure, the decision-making and executive functions are separated. The HKSAR contains 12 policy bureaus, comprising 59 executive agencies. These policy bureaus are responsible for making policies and presenting bills. Executive agencies under the bureaus are responsible for executing policies and legislation. The directors of the policy bureaus are accountable to the Chief Executive; each secretary of the executive agencies is accountable to their director. The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) is the policy bureau in charge of food safety assurance and has the largest of staff in the HKSAR. Its function is to formulate relevant policies of food safety and provide high-quality health, food and environmental hygiene services for Hong Kong. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), and the Government Laboratory (GL) are the executing agencies in charge of specific work of food safety supervision. Here we summarize supervisory system for food safety in HKSAR in detail (Fig. 1).
The AFCD is primarily responsible for managing and promoting local agricultural products. In the food safety areas, this agency is mainly responsible for standardizing breeding of food agricultural products, preventing abuse of agricultural and veterinary products and monitoring animal disease and medication residue in animals. Because the local agriculture in Hong Kong is small and most of the food is supplied from outside the region, the primary responsibility for food safety supervision is the FEHD. The responsibilities of the FEHD are to maintain a clean and hygienic living environment for people and ensure that the food sold is safe. The CFS was established by the FEHD in 2006 as a specialized government agency mainly responsible for food safety supervision from “farm to table,” except for local farm products. The CFS consists of the Food Surveillance and Control Division (FSCD), the Risk Assessment and Communication Division (RACD) and the Centre Administration Division (CAD). The chief missions of the CFS are as follows:
Food surveillance and certification Safety control of imported food Safety control of live food animals Management of Food Incidents Handling Food Complaints Assessing risks of certain categories of food Risk Communication Advises on food standards.
The GL is the only independent authoritative inspection agency in HKSAR; it provides a full range of analytical, investigatory and advisory services and support to enable departments and bureaus of the HKSAR to meet their responsibilities for law and order, public health and safety, environmental protection, government revenue, consumer interests and implementation of government policies. In food safety, the Food Safety and Quality Group (FSQG) of the GL provides testing services to support regular food surveillance. Test items of food safe supplied from GL are all certified by the Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS), and all the data collected by the GL can be used as legal evidence for enforcement action and indictment. Independence is an important guarantee for food safety (Lia, Qia, & Liu, 2010). The GL is independent of other functional departments of HKSAR, which is the outstanding feature different from administrations in mainland China and other countries. Besides the GL, the FSCD and FEHD also have agencies for food safety inspection, but these agencies have a clear division of work without repetitive detection and overlapping functions. According to specialty, detection relating to veterinary issues belong to the Veterinary Assay Office (VAO) of the FSCD, human disease and microbiology belong to the Sanitary Inspection Office (SIO) of the FEHD, and biological and chemical analyses belong to the GL. Test items and detection devices of these agencies do not overlap. 3.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance in Hong Kong The most important feature of the Hong Kong safety assurance system is a unifying management with a high degree of centralization. The objective of food safety has been proposed to provide a target for operational food safety management in the whole food safety supply line “from farm to table”, including “planting and breeding”, “processing and manufacturing”, “circulating” and “consuming” (Peter, 2008). This relatively single mode of food safety supervision adopted by the HKSAR is comprehensive and efficient. Food safety supervision agencies and detection agencies are attached to the same policy bureau. The FEHD is in complete charge of strategic decision making for food safety, formulating
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143
FHB
Local Agriculture Imported farm produce
AFCD
Production FEHD
Storage and Distribution
GL
From Farm to Table
DH
Preparation, Catering and Consumption
It provides testing services to support the regular food surveillance
Additives, Contaminants and Composition Section Residues Section Food Complaint Section Outsourcing Management Section
FSQG Strategic Development Section Trace Elements Section Quality Management Section Risk Management Section Food Surveillance and Control Division
CFS
Food Import and Export Section Food Surveillance and Complain Section Food Chemistry Section
Centre Administration
Veterinary Public Health Section
Division Slaughterhouse (Veterinary) Section Risk Assessment Section Risk Assessment and
Risk Communication Section
Communication Food Research Laboratory Section Inspection and Quarantine Branch
(Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) AFCD, (Centre for Food Safety) CFS, (Deparment of Health) DH,
Agricutre Branch
(Government Laboratory) GL, (Food and Health Bureau) FHB, (Food and Environmental Hygiene Department) FEHD,
Fisheries Branch
(Food Safety and Quality Group) FSQG
Fig. 1. Supervisory system for food safety of Hong Kong.
relevant policies about food management, which is different from the regulation styles of mainland China. The food safety management system of China has been based on a segmented supervision model since the 1980s, with safety regulated by 8 official departments (Jia & Jukes, 2013). Different regulation departments are assigned to control different links in the food supply chain. However, the system involves many departments, which barely connect, and regulatory “blind spots” arise in the food safety chain as a result of overlapping functions, overstaffing, divorce of powers and responsibilities and duplicate law enforcement (Wu et al., 2010). The food safety assurance system in Hong Kong is a single department of unified management with a high degree of centralization, which can avoid the above defects. In March 2013，the State Council of the People’s Republic of China established the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)
to integrate the functions of the State Food Safety Office, the State Food and Drug Administration Department, inspection processes of the Inspection and Quarantine Department and the food safety supervision and management functions of the Industry and Commerce Department. The responsibility of this new department is to supervise food safety in production, circulation or consumption. It is hoped that this new system will be effectively implemented for each step of the food chain in China. 4. Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong 4.1. Hygiene licensing system The FEHD is the licensing authority for food businesses. It also issues permits for the sale of restricted foods, such as Chinese herbal
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tea, milk, frozen confections, sushi, sashimi, lo mei and siu mei, as well as licences for places of public entertainment such as theatres, cinemas and entertainment machine centres. It issues licences for private swimming pools and commercial bathhouses as well as factories engaged in slaughtering food animals. All food business need to obtain a license from the FEHD; unlicensed business activity is illegal. The FEHD can issue a provisional license for 6 months to restaurants that wish to open immediately, but they need to confirm the license officially when the related facilities are complete. 4.2. Categorized management system On the basis of the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (including risk assessment, risk management and risk communication principles), FEHD classifies food businesses as low risk (Class I), moderate risk (Class II) or high risk (Class III), according to the potential risks. The order of assessment of risk class is as follows: any previous illegal behaviours, food poisoning incidents, or disqualifications during previous inspection. The frequency of inspections is based on the risk class: lowrisk locations are inspected once every 5 months, moderate-risk locations once every 2.5 months and high-risk locations every month. The FEHD inspects food stalls every 2 weeks and increases the inspection frequency as required. The evaluation and management according to potential risks agrees with the principle of management at different levels for food hygiene supervision, which is used by many developed countries (Mensah & Julien, 2011). However, the FEHD adds further quantification and programming management by applying the demerit point system in the inspections; the demerit point is used to decide sanctions, but warnings are given before sanctions. For example, the FEHD will revoke a temporary license for 7 days if the food business premise loses 15 demerit points in 12 months and will revoke a temporary license for 14 days with more than 15 demerit points; it will permanently revoke a license with repeated accumulation of 15 demerit points. 4.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme The FEHD implemented a hygiene manager and supervisor scheme to intensify the emphasis on responsibility of food safety. The FEHD stipulated that all the food business premises must appoint a hygiene manager or a hygiene supervisor. This person must obtain related training certification from professional training institutions before starting the job. The training is different from the training of normal staff because it improves the management of food hygiene and also intensifies the consciousness of food safety, which prevents governmental departments from supervising as housekeepers. The hygiene manager is responsible for supervising the sanitation of operating staff, the environment and food, especially for safety of high-risk food. The hygiene supervisor is responsible for supervising and guiding operating staff especially in processing lower-risk food. The hygiene manager and supervisor should accompany the FEHD inspectors during inspection; otherwise the enterprise will lose demerit points. 4.4. Food safety risk analysis and communication system Risk analysis is the most effective tool for managing food safety, which has gained international acceptance (FAO/WHO, 1995, pp. 13e17, 2006, p. ix). The CFS applies risk analysis and evaluation for food safety assurance, which attaches importance to pre-control. First, the CFS adopts risk analysis methods to ensure food safety. Risk assessment must involve high-quality data (Lozowicka, Jankowska, & Kaczynski, 2012). Each year, about 80,000 food
samples are tested, with 10 samples per 1000 people. The CFS adopts appropriate risk management practices according to the evaluation system. Second, it closely monitors the news for 40 food and health agency websites. If it finds any food safety incidents, it will start the mode of risk analysis immediately, and consumers can also obtain timely information from the Internet. Third, the CFS launches special inspection of the problem or suspicious foods and establishes safety standards, reinforces risk analysis and intensifies enforcement of laws on these foods. The HKSAR implements an information release system and offers complete food safety information. Effective risk communication can inform consumers without causing panic (McEntire & Boateng, 2012). The HKSAR attaches great importance to information disclosure. Disclosures on food safety are timely and effective and are implemented in 2 ways. First, announcements are published on the CFS website. The CFS publishes a “Food Safety Report” and “Food Safety Focus” on the website every month. It releases the test results for various foods from time to time, and if it finds any problem food, it will send food alerts on the “Food Alert”. Second, the CFS uses other ways to notify citizens, including newspapers, educational brochures, and industry guidelines. Moreover, the FEHD publicizes the knowledge of food safety through the Health Education Exhibition and health talks. The CFS has a Communication Resource Unit in the Municipal Services Building that organises food safety programmes and provides technical support to people in the food trade and the public; the unit fully records the requirements and complaints of citizens, thus enhancing intercommunication with the public. For example, at the end of 2011, the CFS received a complaint from the Centre for Health Protection attached to the Department of Health about 2 suspected complaints from drinking a dairy product. It immediately collected the relevant samples for testing from the complainants and the retail stores. Laboratory results showed that 5 samples contained toluol, phenylethane and xylene, at 1.2, 1 and 5 mg/kg, respectively. Although the content of the contaminated chemicals of this brand of milk was not beyond the acceptable content for daily intake of standard drinking water containing toluene, ethybenzene and xylene instituted by the World Health Organisation, the HKSAR appealed to citizens on TV, the radio, in newspapers and on the Internet not to drink the dairy product with suspected contamination. It also directed all related stores to immediately stop selling the product and recalled all the commercial dairy products. There was no hazard in the food, but the HKSAR released the information and dealt with it at the first moment. Thus, the HKSAR attaches importance to food safety risk analysis and communication. 4.5. Food-tracking system The Food Safety Ordinance of Hong Kong came into effect on August 1, 2011. It provides a food-tracing mechanism to help the government trace food sources effectively and deal quickly with food incidents. It includes a registration scheme for food importers and food distributors and a record-keeping requirement relating to the acquisition and supply of food by food traders. The rules state that the food importers and food distributors should be registered with FEHD. Anyone who wants to import, acquire or wholesale the food must keep records of the food and the trade record. They should keep records of live aquatic trades and the food guarantee period for 3 months. If the food guarantee period is over 3 months, companies must keep records for 24 months. 5. Conclusions Food safety has become a sensitive and global issue. The systems we describe have been commonly practiced in Hong Kong, with
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great success, and can serve as a model for other large cities. The characteristic of the food safety assurance system in Hong Kong involves 3 aspects: 1) a single unified management department with a high degree of centralization, 2) risk analysis to implement continued surveillance and categorize management, and 3) close government liaison with industry and consumers. The food safety assurance system in Hong Kong matches the territorial environment, food supply and urban size of Hong Kong, so mainland China and other regions could consider these features and benefit from them. Acknowledgements This study was supported in part by research funding from the Natural Science Funding of Guangdong Province (no. S2012010008514) and Shenzhen Funding for Technology Development Project (no. CXZZ20130320165017541) to Xuli Wu, and the Key Laboratory Project of Shenzhen (no. SW201110010) to Zhigang Liu. References Census and statistics department of the government of the Hong Kong speciala adminstrative region (CSD) bulletin(4 July 2012). Available at http://www. censtatd.gov.hk/gb/?param¼b5uniS&url¼http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/m/o.jsp.
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