Excessive cadmium found in prepackaged frozen spinach sample

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (June 1) announced that a prepackaged frozen spinach sample was detected with cadmium, a metallic contaminant, exceeding the legal limit. The CFS is following up on the incident.
 
     Details of the product are as follows:
 
Product name: Leaf Spinach
Product brand: Waitrose Duchy
Place of origin: Holland
Distributor: PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited
Net weight: 500 grams per pack
Best-before date: June 1, 2019
 
     "The CFS collected the spinach sample from a supermarket in To Kwa Wan for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The result showed that the sample contained cadmium at a level of 0.21 parts per million (ppm), exceeding the legal limit of 0.1ppm," a CFS spokesman said.
 
     "The CFS has informed the vendor concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to stop sale and remove from shelves the affected batch of the product. The CFS is tracing the source of the affected product," the spokesman added.
 
     According to the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations (Cap 132V), any person who sells food with metallic contamination above the legal limits is liable upon conviction to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.
 
     "Based on the level of cadmium detected in the sample, adverse health effects will not be caused under usual consumption," the spokesman said.
 
     The CFS will alert the trade to the incident, continue to follow up and take appropriate action. Investigation is ongoing.