Center for Food Safety
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (December 31) advised people not to
consume a kind of bottled fermented bean curd cubes imported from China which might have been contaminated with Bacillus cereus, a pathogen. The trade should immediately stop selling or using the product.
“A sample of bottled fermented bean curd cubes was collected at a food distributor for testing under the regular Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the sample contained Bacillus cereus at an excessive level of 130,000 per gram,” a CFS spokesman said.
“According to the ‘Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food’, it is potentially hazardous to the health of consumers if 100,000 or more of Bacillus cereus per gram of food is detected,” he added.
Product details of the unsatisfactory sample are as
follows:
Product name: Shui Kou Preserved Bean Curd (Chilli)
(350 grams per bottle)
Best before date: December 30, 2013
Place of origin: Guangdong Province
Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the environment.
Unhygienic conditions in food processing and storage may give rise to its
growth. Consuming food contaminated with excessive Bacillus cereus may cause gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting and diarrhoea.
