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Know More about Cross-Border e-Commerce of Food in China YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Exporting food to China is never an easy task. With the emergence of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) platforms, Mainland consumers however can purchase overseas food products easily. Indeed there are a number of foreign food companies targeting the Mainland market through this channel. On the other hand, how does the Chinese government regulate the import of CBEC food

Can Hairy Crabs with Trace Amounts of Dioxins be Sold ? YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon (in less than two months) again! Apart from mooncakes, hairy crabs are also a seasonal delicacy for the festival every year. As one may recall, last year the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) announced that hairy crabs imported from China were detected with dioxins. The incident once sparked strong repercussions in the community. A hairy

Food Safety Management System Certification – Is it Necessary？ YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Many food firms who care about food quality and safety will seek for certification of e.g. ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management System), etc. In Spain, researchers1 have once surveyed 189 Spanish firms with ISO 22000 certification (including food manufacturers, packaging firms, t

What is “Natural” Food? YY TSANG CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories Apart from safe consumption, consumers are looking for food that is “natural”. In fact, more and more health foods labelled as “natural” can be found in the market. However, what does the term “natural” mean? This is a tough question that even U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot answer. FDA has only expressed that a food can be labelled as “natural” if nothing artificial or synthetic (e.g.

What Can Go Wrong with Sea Cucumbers? YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) There have been media reports from time to time about counterfeit and adulterated sea cucumbers. A restaurant located in Guangzhou is recently found selling “artificial sea cucumbers”. It is reported that the fake sea cucumbers are made of algal powder, konjac powder, etc. A few appearance defects of the fake food have been observed (e.g. blocked ends, papillae of equal thickness and l

Aren’t Organic Foods Safer? YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) The Consumer Council announced earlier that some organic vegetables were found to contain pesticide residues and heavy metals. Excessive chlorpyrifos was detected in a sample of organic purple sweet potato imported from the Mainland, while cadmium content in an organic carrot sample imported from the U.S. almost reached the legal limit. What are the potential causes? Photo Source：The Consumer Co

Puffer Fish and Fish Maw YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Centre for Food Safety recently detected “tetrodotoxin” (TTX) from two kinds of puffer fish maw. The government therefore instructed the trade to stop the sale of affected products, and called on the public to stop consuming the problematic fish maws. Image Source：Mingpao, 2016 http://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20160301/s00001/1456842442594 What is Tetrodotoxin? Tetrodotoxin is

Beers and Pesticides YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Munich Environmental Institute in Germany recently announced the findings of a surveillance project. German beer samples from 14 most well-known brands were all found to contain a pesticide “Glyphosate”, at a level up to 29.74 micrograms per litre. Image Source：Deutsche Welle, 2016 http://www.dw.com/en/glyphosate-weed-killer-found-in-german-beers-study-finds/a-19072785 According to a risk assessment co

Are Boletoid Mushrooms Toxic？ YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) It was reported earlier that few citizens felt unwell after consuming boletoid mushrooms imported from China. Some people may wonder, “Aren’t boletoid mushrooms edible?” The fact is that there are so many species of boletoid mushrooms, and some of them are toxic. In China, 397 mushroom species belong to the family Boletaceae, of which only 33 species are toxic1. Since poisonous and non-poisono

FDA Bans the Use of Three Specific Perfluoroalkyl Ethyl Substances in Food Packaging YY TSANG (CMA Testing and Certification Laboratories) Perfluoralkyl Ethyl Substances Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) refer to a group of synthetic and stable chemical compounds, including perfluoroalkyl ethyl substances. Since PFCs can repel oil and water, they are commonly used in surface coating for food packaging materials (e.g. pizza box). Image Source: Newswatch Report, 2016 http://newsw