Melamine levels in food products at all local markets will be restricted starting today, when amended food-safety regulations take effect.

The amendment comes amid the widening scandal concerning melamine-tainted milk products that threaten consumers' health, especially children's.

Under the amended regulation published in the government gazette today, all dairy products and food for infants under 36 months old, pregnant women and lactating women should not contain more than 1 milligram of melamine per kilogram. Other food products should not contain more than 2.5 milligrams of melamine per kilogram.

The government referred to the standards of the European Union and United States when drafting the regulation.

Violations of the regulation are subject to a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and six months' imprisonment.

Secretary for Food and Health York Chow denied that banning mainland dairy products, as other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia have imposed, would be an effective way to address the problem in Hong Kong.

"We cannot simply ban all the mainland dairy products and expect that we will be safe," he said. "A lot of these products, particularly milk powder, are being shipped to other countries, made into other products and then shipped back to Hong Kong."

"The most direct way of protecting ourselves is to set a ban on this substance in all our food."

Chow said milk-powder manufacturers are capable of testing their products. He urged retailers and restaurants not to use unknown suppliers, even if they are cheaper.

Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades President Simon Wong said that not many restaurants in Hong Kong are using mainland milk products.

Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene Cheuk Wing-hing said the authority will handle prosecution on a case-by-case basis, adding that the handling of food suppliers intentionally using milk from unknown sources may be different from those relying on milk products that have a clean track record.

Chinese University's Centre for Food and Drug Safety Director Thomas Chan Yan-keung said the tolerable standard imposed by Hong Kong is sufficient to protect public health, and he urged the government to also ban derivatives of melamine.

Legislative Council (LegCo) Food Safety Panel former Deputy Chairman Fred Li welcomed the amendment of the regulations, but he added that the authority should enact legislation of recalling poor-quality foods.

Chow said the government will draft the legislation for food recalling before proceeding to the tabling of the food-safety bill to the LegCo.

The Centre for Food Safety has found 10 out of 376 milk product samples contaminated by the chemical. The melamine-test results of 64 samples released yesterday were negative, but fears of more contaminated products still exist.

(HK Edition 09/23/2008 page1)