Lawmaker calls for more information on food products

JOSÉ Pereira Coutinho is concerned about the quality, safety and information on food products consumed in Macau. The lawmaker wrote an enquiry calling on the government to assume a stronger position to require suppliers to provide more accurate information on products regarding their production, ingredients and what chemicals are added, among other aspects, to ensure food safety.

Coutinho also wants to be informed of the frequency of health inspections conducted along all points of the supply chain, including the cool rooms, transport vehicles and point of sale displays.

According to the lawmaker ,an agreement was signed by the local Consumer Council and the Portuguese food safety inspection counterparties in 2014 to cooperate and exchange information but there has been no report or any additional information made available as to what partnership has been promoted to date.

He claims that currently food product labeling requirements “are not strict and do not allow for tracing of the origin of the products or to determine who the producer was, which lot it belongs to as well as under what conditions it was produced or stored.”

Pereira Coutinho calls for a better system of inspection from by food safety specialists, which should include an immediate alert system for the removal from the market of products found to compromise health and safety, and to proceed with the imposition of penalties to all involved in the supply chain that fail to comply with safety rules and regulations.