Speech by SCST at opening ceremony of City University of Hong Kong's "City Quest" programme
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, at the opening ceremony of City University of Hong Kong's "City Quest" programme today (July 12):
Chairman Ngai (Council Chairman of City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Mr Michael Ngai), 屈總 (Vice President and Chairman of the Group Technology Committee, Xiaomi Corporation, Mr Qu Heng), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to be in the CityU today for the opening ceremony of the "City Quest 尋城記" programme.
Today, we gather here to mark the official launch of a visionary community engagement programme that embodies the spirit of "tourism is everywhere",「香港無處不旅遊」. I was particularly impressed that this programme is inviting every member of the public to become a storyteller of our city through the "hands" by sharing personal narratives about Hong Kong, through the "feet" by becoming docent ambassadors and through the "eyes" by capturing the beauty of Hong Kong. This resonates with what I have been advocating ever since assuming the post as Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is "Everyone is a tourism ambassador", 「人人都是旅遊大使」.
With the travel patterns and traveller preferences progressing into more in-depth explorations, the Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots, as led by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, with myself as Deputy Leader, has recently announced nine hotspot projects to offer new and more in-depth tourist experiences, with one project in Old Town Central and the other in Kowloon City. The Old Town Central project will take the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator as a conduit connecting various offerings in the vicinity to guide visitors to explore the beauty of our alleys and streets. On the other hand, the Kowloon City project features the "Kowloon Walled City: A Cinematic Journey" Movie Set Exhibition as the starting point to extend visitors' experience further in the district. Through these projects, we encourage visitors to experience Hong Kong's authentic local flavour from widened perspectives. I am confident that the "City Quest" programme will complement our hotspot projects to curate more fascinating experiences to a wider audience, thereby bringing more visitors to the unique beauty of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is an international tourist city with significant advantages in developing city walk routes, with our diverse gourmet food, high accessibility and efficient transportation system. I wish the "City Quest 尋城記" programme a success and would love to see more efforts of this kind from different stakeholders in the community in promoting the Hong Kong neighbourhoods.
Before I close, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to City University of Hong Kong and its partners for organising this meaningful programme to promote Hong Kong from fresh perspectives. Thank you very much.
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
