Samples Collected From Lunch Supplier 'satisfactory'

The government says samples it has collected from a school lunchbox service provider have been tested, and the results were “satisfactory”.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said that among the 11 samples it collected, nine were tested against food-borne pathogens, while two were tested to see if they were cooked properly.

Twenty-five environmental swabs from some of the supplier’s food factories were also collected, and yielded the same result.

The lunchbox supplier, Luncheon Star, had suspended its service for two days amid a food poisoning scare.

The firm, a subsidiary of fast food chain Café de Coral, announced last week that it would not provide lunchboxes to more than 200 schools on Monday and Tuesday, while it thoroughly cleans its production lines.

FEHD said they have held a meeting with Luncheon Star on Monday, and asked the supplier to submit a written report within days.

Additionally a spokesperson said the department will arrange for another round of inspections, which will be completed this week, to ensure relevant licencing conditions and hygiene standards have been met.

Meanwhile, Luncheon Star said on Monday evening that it has decided not to renew some contracts to provide lunches for some secondary schools, but they expect services to resume for other schools on Wednesday.

The firm said they realised in early February that demand for lunch boxes had increased four-fold since the resumption of face-to-face classes.

Luncheon Star said the decision not to renew contracts with some secondary schools was made after considering manpower and capacity, and because it would be easier for secondary school students to find alternative lunch arrangements.

Meanwhile, a Tsing Yi school says the government should intervene and ensure the lunch box operator can safely provide meals for the hundreds of schools it serves.

Ray Chan, the school affairs chief at Yan Chai Hospital Chiu Tsang Hok Wan Primary School, praised students and mothers who helped feed the school on Monday, preparing 200 lunch boxes after Luncheon Star suspended services following cases of food poisoning.

"Teachers, I think, are the professionals in education, right? We are not the professionals in cooking," he said.

"Of course we wish that everything goes back to normal tomorrow, and the government should, I think, intervene with the food dealer to stop the problems. Meals for a hundred-thousand children every day should not be delayed any longer."

Chan told RTHK's Hong Kong Today that the school's Parent Teacher Association was prepared to go shopping again on Wednesday, should the suspension continue.