Food imports from Tianjin, site of massive and deadly explosions of chemicals last month, have been given a clean bill of health for the present.
Responding to safety fears, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing- man said yesterday that none of 40 samples of Tianjin food imports to Hong Kong showed contamination, with cyanide a major concern.
He also said the mainland's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine is "very concerned" with the explosions' impact on food supplies to Hong Kong and collected many samples from areas around the blast site for testing.
"As of now, based on the information I have received, there has been nothing unusual detected in water, soil and air outside the core area," he said after a visit to Beijing.
The Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong tested 40 food samples, including fresh vegetables and fish, from Tianjin and the port city's surrounding area.
He also sought to assure citizens the center will be a reliable gatekeeper as more produce from Tianjin arrives in Hong Kong during the winter.
According to the mainland's quality supervisors, seven vegetable operations supply fresh produce including winter melons, carrots, broccoli and pak choi to Hong Kong.
The chairman of the Hong Kong Imported Vegetable Wholesale Merchants' Association, Yuen Cheung, said shipments from Tianjin account for 6-7 percent of total vegetable imports.
Worries follow the August 12 fire at a warehouse storing chemicals including a large quantity of cyanide that led to earthquake-like explosions.
