September 23, 2014
Hong Kong’s "Microbiological Guidelines for Food", published by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, in effect as of on August 14, 2014, replace the "Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food" and its supplementary information.
The Guidelines were updated to bring Hong Kong's microbiological criteria more into line with international standards and to better protect public health and consumer interests.
Major revisions included:
- the microbiological criteria for ready-to-eat food in general including aerobic colony count (ACC), hygienic indicator organisms and specific foodborne pathogens;
- supplementing the microbiological criteria for powdered formula for infants, young children and special medical purposes, ready-to-eat spices as well as live or raw bivalve mollusks intended for direct consumption; and
- updating the microbiological criteria for natural mineral waters.