lable at ScienceDirect

Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145

Contents lists avai

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 School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Nanhai Ave 3688, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province 518060, Chinab Liaoning Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureu, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116001, China

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 4 May 2013Received in revised form31 August 2013Accepted 14 September 2013

Keywords:Hong KongFood safetyAssurance systems

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 755 86671909; faE-mail addresses: wxl@szu.edu.cn, wxlszu@163.co

0956-7135/$ e see front matter Crown Copyright � 2http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.09.025

a b s t r a c t

Hong Kong is the top food safety city in China. It is a large consumer-oriented city, with more than 95% ofthe food imported from abroad. The overall food safety rate has been 99.7% for the past 6 years. Thispaper discusses food safety assurance system in Hong Kong, specifically the food safety status of HongKong, its food safety regulation agencies and food safety assurance systems. The food safety assurancesystems in Hong Kong developed to protect consumers could benefit China as a whole and otherdeveloping countries.

Crown Copyright � 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1412. Status of food safety in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1423. Organization system of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

3.1. Functions of Hong Kong’s official food regulation agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1423.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

4. Food safety assurance systems in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1434.1. Hygiene licensing system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1434.2. Categorized management system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444.4. Food safety risk analysis and communication system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444.5. Food-tracking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

1. Introduction

Hong Kong, a special administrative region in China, is a largeconsumer-oriented international city with a populationapproaching 7.1 million (Census and Statistics Department Bulletin,2012). Hong Kong’s tourism industry is very prosperous, with arecord almost 42 million visitors in 2011 (http://www.yearbook.

x: þ86 755 86671901.m (X. Wu).

013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All

gov.hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). This megacity de-mands an enormous quantity of different kinds of food, more than95% of which is imported from abroad (http://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2010/en/pdf/E09.pdf HKSAR, 2013). Food safety is a complexissue in China, presenting challenges to central government regu-lators. It has affected people’s health and has significantly influ-enced China’s food trade and international reputation (Liu, Xie,Zhang, Cao, & Pei, 2013). As a “food paradise,” Hong Kong wasfirst in the list of the top top 10 food safety cities in China in 2012(China Institute of City Competitiveness, 2012). Hong Kong isfamous for its food safety; the overall food safety rate was 99.7% forthe past 6 years and was due to the city’s effective food safety

rights reserved.

Table 1Food safety report issued by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) from 2007 to 2012.

Year No. ofreports

No. of samplestested

No. ofqualifications

Qualityrate (%)

2007a 6 65,000 64,676 99.50%2008a 6 65,300 65,067 99.64%2009a 12 60,500 60,285 99.64%2010a 12 61,300 61,131 99.72%2011a 12 1,26,900 1,26,723 99.86%2012a 12 1,15,500 1,15,385 99.90%Total 60 4,94,500 4,93,267 99.75%

a Source of data: Food Safety Report of Centre of Food Safety of the Government ofHong Kong Special Administration Region (2007e2012), http://www.cfs.gov.hk/eindex.html.

X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145142

assurance systems. Therefore, studying the food safety controlsystem of Hong Kong would benefit China in general.

Effective food safety assurance systems are essential to maintainthe safety of domestic food and the safety of exported and importedfood (Food and Agriculture Organization and World HealthOrganization, 2006). We collected comprehensive relevant infor-mation concerning the food safety assurance systems in Hong Kongand investigated the supervisory system of total food safety in HongKong.

2. Status of food safety in Hong Kong

From 2009, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Governmentof Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) has releasedthe “Food Safety Report” every month to allow the public to obtainthe latest food safety information. CFS has a fairly sound three-tierfood surveillance (targeted food surveillance, routine food sur-veillance and seasonal food surveillance). All the samples werecollected in retail, wholesale and import levels for chemica,radiological approach and microbiological tests. According to thefood safety reports issued by the CFS from 2007 to 2012 (Table 1),494,500 food samples were tested: 493,267were found satisfactoryand the overall rate was 99.75%. About 80,000 food samples weretested, with 10 samples per 1000 people in 1 year. The food sur-veillance programme revealed that the overall satisfactory rate offood 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 judicialpowers. In the administrative structure, the decision-making andexecutive functions are separated. The HKSAR contains 12 policybureaus, comprising 59 executive agencies. These policy bureausare responsible for making policies and presenting bills. Executiveagencies under the bureaus are responsible for executing policiesand legislation. The directors of the policy bureaus are accountableto the Chief Executive; each secretary of the executive agencies isaccountable to their director.

The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) is the policy bureau in chargeof food safety assurance and has the largest of staff in the HKSAR. Itsfunction is to formulate relevant policies of food safety and providehigh-quality health, food and environmental hygiene services forHong Kong. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department(AFCD), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD),and the Government Laboratory (GL) are the executing agencies incharge of specific work of food safety supervision. Here we sum-marize supervisory system for food safety in HKSAR in detail (Fig.1).

The AFCD is primarily responsible for managing and promotinglocal agricultural products. In the food safety areas, this agency ismainly responsible for standardizing breeding of food agriculturalproducts, preventing abuse of agricultural and veterinary productsand monitoring animal disease and medication residue in animals.Because the local agriculture in Hong Kong is small and most of thefood is supplied from outside the region, the primary responsibilityfor food safety supervision is the FEHD.

The responsibilities of the FEHD are to maintain a clean andhygienic living environment for people and ensure that the foodsold is safe. The CFS was established by the FEHD in 2006 as aspecialized government agency mainly responsible for food safetysupervision 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 ofthe 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.

TheGL is the only independent authoritative inspection agency inHKSAR; it provides a full range of analytical, investigatory andadvisory services and support to enable departments and bureaus ofthe HKSAR to meet their responsibilities for law and order, publichealth and safety, environmental protection, government revenue,consumer interests and implementation of government policies. Infood safety, the Food Safety and Quality Group (FSQG) of the GLprovides testing services to support regular food surveillance. Testitems of food safe supplied fromGL are all certified by theHongKongAccreditation Service (HKAS), and all the data collected by theGL canbe 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 de-partments of HKSAR, which is the outstanding feature differentfrom administrations in mainland China and other countries. Be-sides the GL, the FSCD and FEHD also have agencies for food safetyinspection, but these agencies have a clear division of workwithoutrepetitive detection and overlapping functions. According to spe-cialty, detection relating to veterinary issues belong to the Veteri-nary Assay Office (VAO) of the FSCD, human disease andmicrobiology belong to the Sanitary Inspection Office (SIO) of theFEHD, and biological and chemical analyses belong to the GL. Testitems and detection devices of these agencies do not overlap.

3.2. Characteristics of the organization of food safety assurance inHong Kong

The most important feature of the Hong Kong safety assurancesystem is a unifying management with a high degree of centrali-zation. The objective of food safety has been proposed to provide atarget for operational food safety management in the whole foodsafety supply line “from farm to table”, including “planting andbreeding”, “processing and manufacturing”, “circulating” and“consuming” (Peter, 2008). This relatively single mode of foodsafety supervision adopted by the HKSAR is comprehensive andefficient. Food safety supervision agencies and detection agenciesare attached to the same policy bureau. The FEHD is in completecharge of strategic decision making for food safety, formulating

FHB

DH

FEHD

GL

AFCD

(Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) AFCD,

(Centre for Food Safety) CFS, (Deparment of Health) DH,

(Government Laboratory) GL, (Food and Health Bureau) FHB,

(Food and Environmental Hygiene Department) FEHD,

(Food Safety and Quality Group) FSQG

It provides testing services to support

the regular food surveillance

Production

Storage and Distribution

Preparation,Catering and Consumption

Local Agriculture

Imported farm produce

From

Farm

to Table

FSQG

Additives, Contaminants and Composition Section

Residues Section

Food Complaint Section

Outsourcing Management Section

Strategic Development Section

Trace Elements Section

Quality Management Section

Risk Assessment Section

Risk Communication Section

Food Research Laboratory Section

CFS

Risk Assessment and Communication

Risk Management Section

Food Import and Export Section

Food Surveillance and Complain Section

Food Chemistry Section

Veterinary Public Health Section

Slaughterhouse (Veterinary) Section

Food Surveillance and Control Division

Inspection and Quarantine Branch

Agricutre Branch

Fisheries Branch

Centre Administration Division

Fig. 1. Supervisory system for food safety of Hong Kong.

X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145 143

relevant policies about food management, which is different fromthe regulation styles of mainland China. The food safety manage-ment system of China has been based on a segmented supervisionmodel since the 1980s, with safety regulated by 8 official de-partments (Jia & Jukes, 2013). Different regulation departments areassigned to control different links in the food supply chain. How-ever, the system involves many departments, which barely connect,and regulatory “blind spots” arise in the food safety chain as a resultof overlapping functions, overstaffing, divorce of powers and re-sponsibilities and duplicate law enforcement (Wu et al., 2010). Thefood safety assurance system in Hong Kong is a single departmentof unified management with a high degree of centralization, whichcan avoid the above defects.

In March 2013，the State Council of the People’s Republic ofChina established the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)

to integrate the functions of the State Food Safety Office, the StateFood and Drug Administration Department, inspection processes ofthe Inspection and Quarantine Department and the food safetysupervision and management functions of the Industry and Com-merce Department. The responsibility of this new department is tosupervise food safety in production, circulation or consumption. Itis hoped that this new system will be effectively implemented foreach 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 alsoissues permits for the sale of restricted foods, such as Chinese herbal

X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145144

tea, milk, frozen confections, sushi, sashimi, lo mei and siu mei, aswell as licences for places of public entertainment such as theatres,cinemas and entertainment machine centres. It issues licences forprivate swimming pools and commercial bathhouses as well asfactories engaged in slaughtering food animals. All food businessneed to obtain a license from the FEHD; unlicensed business activityis illegal. The FEHD can issue a provisional license for 6 months torestaurants thatwish to open immediately, but theyneed to confirmthe license officially when the related facilities are complete.

4.2. Categorized management system

On the basis of the principles of Hazard Analysis and CriticalControl Point System (including risk assessment, risk managementand risk communication principles), FEHD classifies food busi-nesses as low risk (Class I), moderate risk (Class II) or high risk(Class III), according to the potential risks. The order of assessmentof risk class is as follows: any previous illegal behaviours, foodpoisoning incidents, or disqualifications during previous inspec-tion. The frequency of inspections is based on the risk class: low-risk locations are inspected once every 5 months, moderate-risklocations once every 2.5 months and high-risk locations everymonth. The FEHD inspects food stalls every 2 weeks and increasesthe inspection frequency as required.

The evaluation and management according to potential risksagrees with the principle of management at different levels for foodhygiene supervision, which is used by many developed countries(Mensah & Julien, 2011). However, the FEHD adds further quanti-fication and programming management by applying the demeritpoint system in the inspections; the demerit point is used to decidesanctions, but warnings are given before sanctions. For example,the FEHD will revoke a temporary license for 7 days if the foodbusiness premise loses 15 demerit points in 12 months and willrevoke a temporary license for 14 days with more than 15 demeritpoints; it will permanently revoke a license with repeated accu-mulation of 15 demerit points.

4.3. Hygiene manager and hygiene supervisor scheme

The FEHD implemented a hygiene manager and supervisorscheme to intensify the emphasis on responsibilityof food safety. TheFEHD stipulated that all the food business premises must appoint ahygiene manager or a hygiene supervisor. This person must obtainrelated training certification from professional training institutionsbefore starting the job. The training is different from the training ofnormal staff because it improves the management of food hygieneand also intensifies the consciousness of food safety, which preventsgovernmental departments from supervising as housekeepers.

The hygiene manager is responsible for supervising the sanita-tion of operating staff, the environment and food, especially forsafety of high-risk food. The hygiene supervisor is responsible forsupervising and guiding operating staff especially in processinglower-risk food. The hygiene manager and supervisor shouldaccompany the FEHD inspectors during inspection; otherwise theenterprise 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 forfood 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 CFSadopts appropriate risk management practices according to theevaluation system. Second, it closely monitors the news for 40 foodand health agency websites. If it finds any food safety incidents, itwill start themode of risk analysis immediately, and consumers canalso obtain timely information from the Internet. Third, the CFSlaunches special inspection of the problem or suspicious foods andestablishes safety standards, reinforces risk analysis and intensifiesenforcement of laws on these foods.

The HKSAR implements an information release system and offerscomplete food safety information. Effective risk communication caninform consumers without causing panic (McEntire & Boateng,2012). The HKSAR attaches great importance to information disclo-sure. Disclosures on food safety are timely and effective and areimplemented in 2 ways. First, announcements are published on theCFS website. The CFS publishes a “Food Safety Report” and “FoodSafety Focus” on thewebsite everymonth. It releases the test resultsfor various foods from time to time, and if itfinds anyproblem food, itwill send food alerts on the “Food Alert”. Second, the CFS uses otherways to notify citizens, including newspapers, educational bro-chures, and industry guidelines. Moreover, the FEHD publicizes theknowledge of food safety through the Health Education Exhibitionand health talks. The CFS has a Communication Resource Unit in theMunicipal Services Building that organises food safety programmesand provides technical support to people in the food trade and thepublic; the unit fully records the requirements and complaints ofcitizens, thus enhancing intercommunication with the public.

For example, at the endof 2011, theCFS received a complaint fromthe Centre for Health Protection attached to the Department ofHealth about 2 suspected complaints from drinking a dairy product.It immediately collected the relevant samples for testing from thecomplainants and the retail stores. Laboratory results showed that 5samples contained toluol, phenylethane and xylene, at 1.2, 1 and5 mg/kg, respectively. Although the content of the contaminatedchemicals of this brand of milk was not beyond the acceptable con-tent for daily intake of standard drinking water containing toluene,ethybenzene and xylene instituted by the World Health Organisa-tion, the HKSAR appealed to citizens on TV, the radio, in newspapersand on the Internet not to drink the dairy product with suspectedcontamination. It also directed all related stores to immediately stopselling the product and recalled all the commercial dairy products.There was no hazard in the food, but the HKSAR released the infor-mation and dealt with it at the first moment. Thus, the HKSAR at-taches importance to food safety risk analysis and communication.

4.5. Food-tracking system

The Food Safety Ordinance of Hong Kong came into effect onAugust 1, 2011. It provides a food-tracing mechanism to help thegovernment trace food sources effectively and deal quickly withfood incidents. It includes a registration scheme for food importersand food distributors and a record-keeping requirement relating tothe acquisition and supply of food by food traders.

The rules state that the food importers and food distributorsshould be registered with FEHD. Anyone who wants to import,acquire or wholesale the food must keep records of the food andthe trade record. They should keep records of live aquatic tradesand the food guarantee period for 3 months. If the food guaranteeperiod is over 3 months, companies must keep records for 24months.

5. Conclusions

Food safety has become a sensitive and global issue. The systemswe describe have been commonly practiced in Hong Kong, with

X. Wu et al. / Food Control 37 (2014) 141e145 145

great success, and can serve as a model for other large cities. Thecharacteristic of the food safety assurance system in Hong Konginvolves 3 aspects: 1) a single unified management departmentwith a high degree of centralization, 2) risk analysis to implementcontinued surveillance and categorize management, and 3) closegovernment liaison with industry and consumers. The food safetyassurance system in Hong Kong matches the territorial environ-ment, food supply and urban size of Hong Kong, so mainland Chinaand other regions could consider these features and benefit fromthem.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by research funding from theNatural Science Funding of Guangdong Province (no.S2012010008514) and Shenzhen Funding for Technology Devel-opment Project (no. CXZZ20130320165017541) to Xuli Wu, and theKey Laboratory Project of Shenzhen (no. SW201110010) to ZhigangLiu.

References

Census and statistics department of the government of the Hong Kong specialaadminstrative region (CSD) bulletin(4 July 2012). Available at http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/gb/?param¼b5uniS&url¼http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/m/o.jsp.

China Institute of City Competitiveness (CICC). (10 Oct 2012). Year book of China citycompetitiveness 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 jointFAO/WHO expert consultation. Geneva, Switzerland.

FAO/WHO. (2006). Food safety risk analysis. A guide for national food safety author-ities. FAO food and nutrition paper, 87.

FAO & WHO. (2006). Strengthening national food control systems: Guidelines to assesscapacity 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 Kongspeciala 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 Kong2011. 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 asystematic review. Food Control, 32, 236e245.

Lia, Y. H., Qia, R. G., & Liu, H. Y. (2010). Designing independent regulatory system offood 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 inChinese food safety. Food Control, 30, 162e167.

Lozowicka, B., Jankowska, M., & Kaczynski, P. (2012). Pesticide residues in Brassicavegetables and exposure assessment of consumers. Food Control, 25, 561e575.

Mensah, L. D., & Julien, D. (2011). Implementation of food safety managementsystems in the UK. Food Control, 22, 1216e1225.

McEntire, J., & Boateng, A. (2012). Industry challenge to best practice riskcommunication. Journal of Food Science, 77, 111e117.

Peter, R. (2008). Total food safety: how good practices can contributes. Trends inFood 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-technicalinnovations for total food chain safety during the 2008 Beijing Olympics andParalympics and beyond. Trends Food Science and Technology, 21, 44e51.