Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has found “light filth” – including insects, parasitic arachnids and hair – in nearly all pickled vegetables it tested, with one sample yielding up to 310 bug fragments per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of product.
The Consumer Council on Tuesday urged manufacturers to exercise stringent quality control over ingredients, finished goods and the production process to ensure food safety and hygiene, noting people would not want to eat such substances even though they were unlikely to be hazardous to health.
“Considering the manufacturing process of preserved vegetables, a slight amount of [light filth] is probably a little bit inevitable,” council chief executive Gilly Wong Fung-han said, noting impurities would be present “no matter how hard you wash it”.
“The amount itself is a question that we have to raise … This means that certain manufacturers can do a much better job than others.”
The council, which unveiled its latest findings on Tuesday, tested 30 types of pickled vegetables, including sauerkraut, kimchi, gherkins, mustard tubers, radishes, and pickled mustard leaf with olives.
All but one contained light filth, such as insects, hair, metal, plastic fragments and acarid, which are parasitic arachnids, such as mites and ticks.
Three products, all pickled mustard leaves with olives, contained relatively more insect fragments – between 91 and 310 pieces per 100 grams – than other samples. The watchdog added the relevant information had been sent to the Centre for Food Safety.
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The worst performer was Kun Xing Ji’s salted olives, which had 310 insect fragments per 100 grams examined. Its agent said it had recalled the products and followed up with its manufacturer.
Vegetables with olives from Min Hong Foods Company were also found to contain 129 insect fragments per 100 grams of the product. The Post has reached out to the company for comment.
Another poor performer was pickled olives from Yummy House, which was found to have 91 insect fragments per 100 grams examined. The distributor involved said it had immediately contacted the manufacturer and recalled the affected batch.
The watchdog noted that consumers should not be too worried about the impurities in these products, as there was no proof they were hazardous to human health.
Wong said the insect fragments in the three samples probably originated from the production chain, which included the choice of ingredients, transport and storage.
“Consumers, in reality, cannot use a microscope to look at all the products by themselves and examine them. They really count on the manufacturers to do a great job for them in safeguarding the hygiene level,” Wong said.
“It is the feelings of consumers that count – if you think it is clean, but after you consume it, you realise it is not, it does not give you a good feeling.”
Nora Tam Fung-yee, chairwoman of the council’s research and testing committee, also said more than 85 per cent of the samples had a relatively high amount of sodium. The highest was found in pickled mustard leaves with olives, which had 3,080 milligrams per 100 grams.
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“If you are eating preserved vegetables with less sodium, then you would be okay the more you consume,” she said. “If you are eating some with a high sodium content, you would have to pay attention.”
Tam noted that people with high blood pressure, kidney issues, stomach conditions or a high sodium diet would also have to limit their intake of these products.
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