The World Health Organization (WHO) has named Hong Kong a Collaborating Center for Risk Analysis of Chemicals in Food, a title valid for four years starting in October 2010. The designation is a nod to Hong Kong’s successful food safety measures, including its Center of Food Safety (CFS), which sets food standards and food safety policies and assesses chemical and microbiological risks. The CFS tests 65,000 samples annually for the presence of chemicals, toxicity, and microbiological and radiological contaminants, which account for 71%, 24% and 3% of its tests, respectively. It also tests slaughtered animals’ urine, tissue and blood samples for forbidden and regulated substances. Hong Kong was the first place in the world to set limits for melamine in food and also recently set limits for DEHP in food and medication. The CFS’s duties as a Center will include inspecting food contaminant levels; releasing data on contaminant protocols for emergency situations; and working with the WHO and other countries to offer educational services to improve contamination examination and evaluation.

Source: US Department of Agriculture