Page 24 - Sphere No.16 (Apr 2006)

R E T A I L
THE WRITER AND PHILOSOPHER Dr Lin Yutang once ob-
served that: “Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the
lap of our cooks.” Dr Lin was Professor of English at Beijing
National University from 1923-1926 and later moved to New
York where he became a prolific writer in Chinese and English.
He died in Hong Kong in 1976 but 30 years on his words have
never rung so true.
Whether it is poisonous pork, vegetables laced with pesti-
cides or toxic fish and eels, hardly a month goes by in Hong
Kong without a food scare of some description hitting the
headlines. And of course concerns about poultry have been
ever present since an outbreak of bird flu in Hong Kong killed
six people in 1997.
These problems have inevitably raised questions about qual-
ity controls and regulations in Mainland China, Hong Kong’s
primary source of fresh food. Last summer, the SAR govern-
ment proposed establishing a Centre for Food Safety to monitor
what is eaten in Hong Kong. Secretary for Health, Welfare and
Food, Dr York Chow, made the announcement after test results
confirmed that samples of live eels from local markets tested
positive for the banned cancer-causing agent malachite green; a
fewmonths later similar problems arose with fish supplied from
PHOTO ABOVE: OTHK; FACING PAGE RIGHT CENTRE: CHEUNG PAK-HONG 22 SPHERE
Why only the best fresh produce makes the grade in Hong Kong
By Jon Marsh
FOOD
for thought
