Some frozen food retailers are wilfully flouting the law by openly peddling the foodstuffs in exposed portable shelves at storefront and without proper refrigeration.
The Consumer Council has raised the concern over such unhygienic condition in which frozen meat was sold in a survey last year.
Much to the disappointment of the Council, and despite the recently heightened public awareness in food hygiene and safety, this same deplorable situation was found still common in a similar survey this year.
All frozen commodities, according to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), shall be stored in refrigerator at all times and sold direct from refrigerator to customers without being thawed out, plucked or dressed.
This is a condition of the licence for frozen meat retailers. But some retailers are apparently operating in total disregard of this licence condition.
Of the 59 licensed retail outlets included in the survey, 29 were found to be blatantly selling frozen meat in open boxes, plastic containers and baskets on portable shelves in front of the stores.
The frozen meat on display was left exposed and all without the proper refrigeration.
It is therefore not surprising that almost all the frozen meat (99%) sold in such conditions showed early signs of thawing or being completely thawed, and some (19%) even had bloody water seeping out.
This not only affects the quality of the frozen meat but also poses a high risk of endangering the health of the general public.
Consumers are cautioned against buying frozen meat on open display without proper refrigeration. The hazard is that bacteria can grow in frozen meat without proper refrigeration and the multiplication rate is most rapid in room temperature that may lead to foodborne illness.
In the course of the survey, the Council found also two frozen meat retailers suspected of selling frozen chickens as chilled chickens. Further, the chilled chickens bearing the "CIQ" holograms, at two other outlets, were not kept properly refrigerated between 0°C and 4°C but left exposed outside the stores at room temperature.
The FEHD is urged to step up its surveillance and control of the offending licensed fresh provision shops - with more surprise visits conducted by health inspectors.
Shops found in breach of the law or licensing conditions (as in the case of thawing frozen commodities in advance), will usually be warned to rectify the irregularity within a reasonable time period. Failing that, the licensees will be liable to cancellation.
According to FEHD, 71 such warnings were issued from January to August 2004. Furthermore, four prosecutions have been taken against premises for displaying chilled and frozen commodities outside the stores.
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