Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Laboratory will increase the number of chemical tests of food outsourced in the coming year, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said Wednesday.

However, there is no plan to outsource microbiological tests at this stage, he added.

Chow told lawmakers the laboratory outsourced 22,000 chemical tests of food to private laboratories in 2008-09, equivalent to about 15 percent of the routine food tests in the fiscal year.

"We are planning to increase the number of tests outsourced in the coming year. The resources saved will be deployed to conduct method development for new tests, to provide testing services in support of new food legislation to enhance food safety, to conduct testing work involving litigation, and to assist in contract management," Chow said.

He said the safety of food available in Hong Kong is maintained at a high standard, with the average satisfactory rate of food testing standing at 99 percent. The Center for Food Safety tests 65,000 food samples every year.

"The center reviews the sampling strategy regularly by taking into account the latest assessment on food safety. Some recent adjustments introduced to the strategy include the incorporation of the testing of melamine into the routine surveillance program, stepping up the testing of sulphur dioxide added in beef due to recent increased detection of such irregularity, and conducting of surveys on other popular food items," said Chow.

Source:Xinhua