Two senior Hong Kong health officials were due to
depart for Beijing today to discuss food safety issues with
authorities there after a banned carcinogen was found in fish
imported to the special administrative region from the mainland,
according to a government press release yesterday.
The officials will discuss ways to enhance the
safety of freshwater products supplied to Hong Kong following the
discovery of malachite green in the past two days.
York Chow, Hong Kong secretary for health, welfare
and food, said that health authorities had tested 29 freshwater
fish samples for malachite green, banned from food products since
2002.
Of them, all four from local freshwater fish were
clear but ten of 25 samples from fish imported from the mainland
were found to contain the chemical.
An interdepartmental working group is now testing
more samples to make a fuller assessment.
Chow said the Hong Kong government notified
authorities on the mainland of the test results, who agreed to step
up inspection of freshwater fish.
In July, malachite green was found in fish from
central China's Hubei
Province on sale in the neighboring province of Henan,
resulting in calls for nationwide tests that could not be
undertaken because the required reagent
was not available.
"It can cause cancer, malformations and mutations,"
Gao Xuexiang, a Shanghai Fishery Office official, was quoted saying
in July 15's Shanghai Daily after the municipality banned
fish products from both the provinces involved.
"Some fish farmers still secretly use it to treat
parasitic and fungal infections in fish because it is cheap," added
Gao.
Malachite green (also called aniline green) has
been used to treat parasites, fungal infections, and bacterial
infections in fish and fish eggs. It is banned in aquaculture in
many countries for being highly toxic.
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2005)