December 10, 2021, 11:39 AM
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On Dec. 9, Hong Kong authorities abruptly suspended the sale of six ice cream flavours from Belgium chocolatier Godiva.
Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety shared in a Dec. 9 press release that it had been alerted to the presence of a banned substance– ethylene oxide – in the France-imported ice creams.
The authorities received a notification issued by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission.
Ethylene oxide, described to be a "pesticide", was found in the stabiliser used in the ice cream products and is currently not authorised by the European Union (EU).Consumers advised against consumption
Consumers were advised against consuming the affected Godiva ice cream products, if they had bought any.
The CFS added that the trade should also "stop using or selling the affected batches of the products immediately if they possess them.”
The six affected Godiva products in question are:
- Chocolate Cheesecake Flavoured Ice Cream
- Milk Chocolate Frozen Confection with Dark Chocolate
- Belgian Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
- Vanilla Flavoured Cocoa Infused Ice Cream
- Caramel Coffee Frozen Confection with Dark Chocolate Chips, and
- Strawberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chips
All had "best before" dates ranging from Oct. 31, 2021 to April 30, 2023.
Investigations ongoing
In its press release, the CFS shared that it has contacted the local importer concerned for follow-up.
"Preliminary investigation found that the above-mentioned importer had imported into Hong Kong the affected batches of the products concerned."
For prudence, a recall was initiated, and the importer was ordered to stop sale and remove the affected Godiva products from shelves.
Investigations are ongoing.
Concerns over ethylene oxide
According to the South China Morning Post, ethylene oxide is a chemical that is typically used to reduce or eliminate contamination of salmonella bacteria in food.
An associate professor at the School of Science and Technology in Hong Kong Metropolitan University shared that the chemical, which exists as an odourless gas at room temperature, is commonly used in industrial cleaning disinfectants.
She added that because the contaminant was found in ice cream, this made it likely for consumers to ingest the chemical, which could lead to gastric irritation, or even liver injury.
It could also lead to eye or skin irritation, even at low concentrations. As it is a gas at room temperature, it could also result in lung injury if inhaled, she said.
According to past reports, the EU had previously deemed there is "no safe level" of consumption of ethylene oxide. It was deemed by the French governmental agency for food safety as "a carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substance".
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