Bun Carnival in Cheung Chau to be launched soon
The annual Bun Carnival in Cheung Chau is coming soon. The Bun Scrambling Final, which is the exciting finale of the event, will be held at the soccer pitch of Pak Tai Temple Playground at Cheung Chau on the night of May 5. Physically fit climbers aged 18 or above are welcome to take part in the event.
The Bun Scrambling Competition comprises three stages - training, selection of finalists and the Bun Scrambling Final. All applicants who have completed the safety training sessions to be provided on April 6 on bun tower climbing and prevention of falls can enter the finalist selection exercise on April 13.
The final selection exercise will consist of two rounds. Twenty-four contestants recording the shortest time in the preliminary round (including no fewer than six female participants) will be eligible to enter the semi-final on the same day to compete for 12 finalist places (including no fewer than three female participants).
The 12 finalists will enter the Bun Scrambling Final to be held from 11.30pm on May 5 to 12.45am on May 6.
The Bun Scrambling Final will comprise male and female races. All 12 finalists will compete in the same race by scrambling for buns, which carry different scores at different points, on the bun tower within a time limit. The highest scoring male and female finalists will be the winners. Moreover, the participant who bags the highest number of buns within the time limit will be the prize winner of "Full Pockets of Lucky Buns".
To acknowledge the outstanding achievements of the winners and enhance the appeal of the event, any male or female athlete who has been the champion three times in the Bun Scrambling Competition since 2016 will be the "King of Kings" or the "Queen of Queens" of the competition.
The Bun Scrambling Competition Invitation Relay, as before, will be held immediately after the individual competition. Local Cheung Chau organisations are invited to participate by forming three-member teams to compete in the relay.
Persons interested in participating in the competition should complete SmartPLAY user registration and identity authentication, and submit their electronic ballot applications from February 17 to 28 via the SmartPLAY website (www.smartplay.lcsd.gov.hk/home), the mobile app (My SmartPLAY) or Smart Self-service Stations. User registration at SmartPLAY is free of charge. To register as SmartPLAY users, please refer to the link (www.smartplay.lcsd.gov.hk/website/en/user-registration/how-to-register.html).
The maximum number of entrants for the Bun Scrambling Competition is 200. All places will be allocated by ballot via SmartPLAY. Applicants who live, work or study at Cheung Chau will be accorded priority in the ballot. Details are provided in the prospectus available on the 2025 Bun Carnival dedicated website (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/bun/index.html) from today.
Besides the Bun Scrambling Competition, this year's Bun Carnival will also feature a wide array of activities, including the Student Drawing Competitions and the Climbing Carnival. The drawing competitions are open for kindergarten and primary school students in the Islands District, aiming to promote their understanding of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival's tradition of bun scrambling and local customs.
For the Bun Tower Climbing Team Relay to be held on the morning of April 27, local tertiary institutions, Government Departments, public utilities and commercial and industrial organisations will be invited to take part in it. Members of the public are welcome to watch the game on-site and cheer for the contestants. At the Climbing Carnival to be held in the afternoon on the same day, there will be a bun tower climbing fun day, game stalls, handicrafts making and variety shows. A Wishing Bun Tower will also be set up, and the winning entries of the Student Drawing Competitions will be displayed. Members of the public are welcome to attend the carnival.
The 2025 Bun Carnival is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Cheung Chau Bun Festival Committee and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). For enquiries, please contact the Islands District Leisure Services Office of the LCSD at 2852 3220, or visit the 2025 Bun Carnival dedicated website.
CFS to follow up certain batches of powdered infant and young children formula with possible presence of Cereulide produced by Bacillus cereus
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (January 10) said that, it took initiative to meet with Nestlé Hong Kong again today, and confirmed the company's today announcement of an additional batch of powdered infant and young children formula suspected to have possibly used the raw material concerned. Nestlé Hong Kong has voluntarily stopped sales, removed from shelves the affected products and has initiated a precautionary recall. The CFS has collected samples of powdered infant and young children formula from the market for Bacillus cereus testing, the test results so far were satisfactory. The Environmental and Ecology Bureau is also closely monitoring the supply situation of other formula milk powder and maintaining communication with other major suppliers. It is noted that there is sufficient formula milk powder to meet the demand.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), Photo source: reference image
The spokesman said, the CFS has been actively following up on Nestlé company's voluntary and precautionary recalls of certain batches of its powdered infant and young children formula in certain areas in Europe due to possible presence of Cereulide produced by Bacillus cereus in the individual raw material. According to the latest information from Nestlé Hong Kong today, an additional batch of its powdered infant and young children formula imported into Hong Kong might have used the raw material concerned. The CFS had earlier enhanced surveillance in the market and collected a sample from the above batch for testing of Bacillus cereus. The test result of the sample was satisfactory. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, Nestlé Hong Kong has voluntarily stopped sales, removed from shelves the affected products and has initiated a precautionary recall.
Product details are as follows:
Product name (Net weight): NAN PRO 1 2 HMO (800g)
Batch number: 51670742F2
Best-before date: June 16, 2027
Place of Origin: Germany
"The CFS met Nestlé Hong Kong again today, urging them to properly handle the product recall issue and respond to public enquiries, in order to safeguard consumers' legitimate rights and interests. In addition, the CFS and Nestlé Hong Kong have jointly followed up, six suspected affected batches of infant and young children formula products that had not entered the market were marked and sealed. An additional 15 batches are currently en route to Hong Kong and will also be marked and sealed upon arrival. The CFS will continue to closely monitor the recall matters and remain fully committed to ensuring food safety, " the spokesman said.
Nestlé Hong Kong has initiated a recall of the affected batches of the products concerned. For enquiries about the recall, members of the public may contact the company through the following channels:
Consumer services hotline: 2599 8874 / 2797 6031/ 2179 8136 (Monday to Sunday, 9am to 9pm)
Email: consumerservices@hk.nestle.com
WhatsApp: 5283 4139 (NESTLÉ® NAN®) / 2599 8871 (Wyeth® Nutrition)
Online form: forms.office.com/e/BhqMhWfsUG?origin=lprLink
Consumers may choose to bring along the products (brand new or opened) for refund at place of purchase, or at exclusive service counters of Nestlé Nutrition Services from January 13 (Tuesday) onwards, to settle the recall and refund of the batches of the products concerned. Details of the exclusive service counters are as follows:
Kowloon Services Counter
Address: G/F, Park Hovan Commercial Building, 18 Hillwood Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (MTR Jordon Station Exit D)
Contact number: 3996 8196
Office hour: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 7.30pm; Sunday, 1pm to 5.30pm (except public holidays)
Hong Kong Services Counter
Address: 1/F, Ka Nin Wah Commercial Building, 423-425 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong (MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit B)
Contact number: 3996 8197
Office hour: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 7.30pm (except Sundays and public holidays)
The CFS, through its Food Incident Surveillance System, noted earlier that certain batches of Nestlé powdered infant formula were being voluntarily recalled in Europe due to possible contamination with Bacillus cereus. Upon learning of the incident, the CFS has immediately initiated follow up actions, published food incident posts to inform the public and the trade about the issue, and has been actively following up on the incident and enhanced surveillance.
Over the past three days (as of 4pm on January 9), the FEHD received a total of 18 food complaints and enquiries suspected to be related to the infant and young children formula products, including one anonymous complaint without contact information. The CFS and the Environmental Hygiene Branch have promptly followed up on all cases, including contacting the parties concerned to obtain details and collecting samples for testing. In addition, the CFS has referred the cases to the health department for follow-up. At present, no food poisoning cases related to the formula have been recorded.
Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the environment. Unhygienic conditions in food processing and storage may give rise to its growth. Cereulide is a heat-stable toxin produced in food by some strains of Bacillus cereus. Consuming food contaminated with excessive Bacillus cereus or its heat-stable toxins may cause gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting and diarrhoea.
The spokesman urged members of the public not to let infants and young children consume the affected batches of the products, and to seek medical treatment for infants or young children who felt unwell after taking the products concerned. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected batches of the products immediately.
"The CFS continues to closely monitor the developments of the situation, follow up and take appropriate action," the spokesman said.
The infant formula of Nestlé, Photo source: online image
