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In response to media enquiries about reported test results of pesticides in vegetables, a spokesman for the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said today (May 20) that the standards adopted in Hong Kong for the monitoring of pesticide residues in food commodities mainly followed those set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex).
"Application of these standards should follow testing methods recommended by Codex. That means tests should be conducted on the whole edible portion of the vegetable, which is the testing method adopted by CFS in monitoring pesticide residues in vegetables.
"It is not appropriate to compare results obtained through tests conducted on only part of the vegetable such as leaves or outer skin of fruiting vegetable such as tomatoes with the Codex's standards," the spokesman said.
As to the retail outlets where some vegetables were reported to contain excessive pesticide residues, the spokesman said the CFS would follow up the cases.
He said many pesticides, such as methamidophos, were soluble in water.
He advised the public to take the following steps in cleaning vegetables:
* Remove the outer leaves;
* Wash well in clean water for several times;
* Immerse vegetables in water for one hour and then rinse, and
* Cook thoroughly before consumption.
Ends/Saturday, May 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:42
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