Hong Kong’s “Microbiological Guidelines for Food”, which was released by the Centre for Food Safety of HKSAR, has been effective since 14 Aug 2014, except for the “Non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E.Coli” and “Enterobacteriaceae” criteria for general ready-to-eat food which will be implemented when the testing capacity have been developed.
As compared to the formerly used “Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food” and its supplementary information, several amendments have been made to better ensure the microbiological safety of food:
Modified the microbiological criteria in the Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food, including those stipulated in the former supplementary information, as well as establishing new microbiological criteria with reference to international/ national standards and guidelines.
Incorporated microbiological criteria for non-ready-to-eat food such as infant formula and food flavorings, etc. The title of the Guidelines was revised accordingly.
Renewed microbiological criteria for natural mineral water.
The Guidelines have been submitted to the WTO for notification. To achieve effective utilization among manufacturers, the Centre for Food Safety has also issued relevant Q&As on its website.
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