Customs officers cracked a case involving producing, packaging and distributing counterfeit Chinese cough medicine and arrested six people. In another operation, officers netted seven for forged labels on pomelos.

The officers raided a manufacturing site and a distribution company in two factory buildings in Kwai Chung, and three dispensaries located in Shamshuipo and Yau Ma Tei.

They had seized 15,000 bottles of counterfeit cough pills, worth about HK$40,000. Six men and two women, aged 32 to 59, were arrested. Of the arrested, a 54-year-old man was suspected to be the mastermind.

A company had registered a name similar to that of a genuine medicine factory, and printed the company name on the packaging boxes of the counterfeit medicine.

The packaging and price of the counterfeit products were almost the same as the genuine ones.

The government laboratory, however, found the counterfeit medicine would cause no harm to health.

Customs officers had also cracked a case involving the sale of pomelos with forged trademark labels of a Thailand brand.

The officers seized 530 pomelos, worth about HK$10,000, in raids against three shops in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. The forged trademark labels of a Thailand brand were put on low quality pomelos, but the department believed that no syndicate was involved.

The department arrested five men and two women, aged between 24 and 52. They were on bail pending further investigation.

Eel products

Meanwhile, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) had found cancer-causing substance malachite green in two samples of eel products collected from a Japanese restaurant Tin Chung and Kana Transa Group, both in Yuen Long.

The CFS collected six samples of eel products from seven premises, including restaurants and suppliers, for chemical tests. The two problematic samples contained 16,000 parts per billion (ppb) and 2.5 ppb of the cancer causing agent.

The CFS seized all the remaining stocks of eel products, totalling about 400 kilograms, found in the premises concerned.

No food sold in Hong Kong should contain malachite green under the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations.

The CFS principal medical officer Tina Mok said they would consider prosecuting the operator of the food premises and the supplier concerned.

The shop keeper for Tin Chung restaurant, surnamed Lo, said the shop had already stopped selling eel products. She said the shop had been sourcing eel from a single supplier over the past year and the products carried health certificate. She said she was not aware of the problem.

Urging the food trade operators to comply with the food safety laws, Mok told them to buy eel products from reliable suppliers.

(HK Edition 10/07/2006 page2)