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| Employees work in a butcher shop in Brasilia, Brazil, March 20, 2017. The food safety authority of Hong Kong said on March 21, 2017 banned the import of frozen meat from Brazil as a "precautionary measure" after the recent Brazilian meat scandal. (Eraldo Peres / AP) |
HONG KONG – The food safety authority of Hong Kong said Tuesday that it has banned the import of frozen meat from Brazil as a "precautionary measure" after recent Brazilian meat scandal .
Surveillance on meat and poultry meat from Brazil will be enhanced to safeguard food safety and public health
Spokesman, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Hong Kong
"The investigation by the Brazilian authorities is ongoing. The center has therefore decided, as a precautionary measure, to temporarily suspend the import of frozen and chilled meat and poultry meat from Brazil," said a spokesman of the Center for Food Safety (CFS) of Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.
The Brazilian police last week uncovered a massive meat adulteration scheme involving some of the country's largest meat producers. According to the police, the adulterated meat was sold in the domestic market as well as exported.
READ MORE: Brazil: China's biggest source of beef imports
Hong Kong's import ban is with an immediate effect.
The CFS has notified the Brazilian authorities about the ban, the spokesman said.
The CFS will also alert the local traders and advise the public to cook meat thoroughly before consumption. "The CFS will continue to liaise with the Brazilian authorities to obtain detailed information for further assessment. Furthermore, surveillance on meat and poultry meat from Brazil will be enhanced to safeguard food safety and public health," he said.
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| A Municipal Sanitary Surveillance worker inspects a piece of meat at a supermarket in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 20, 2017. (Silvia Izquierdo / AP) |
Under its routine food surveillance program over the past three years, the CFS took 17,060 meat samples at import, wholesale and retail levels for chemical and microbiological tests. Of them, there were 36 unsatisfactory samples, all of which were not related to the quality of Brazilian frozen and chilled meat or poultry meat.
"The CFS will continue to closely monitor the case and take appropriate follow-up actions," said the spokesman.
