By Cannix Yau
Health authorities have urged Hongkongers to avoid consuming certain batches of a pre-packaged turkey bacon product originating from the US due to possible bacterial contamination, after luxury supermarket chain City鈥檚uper was found to have sold one.
The Centre for Food Safety on Thursday night also called on the catering industry and retailers to immediately stop using or selling the batches that might have been contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
The product, Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon, is available in various sizes 鈥 12oz, 36oz and 48oz 鈥 with expiration dates of either August 2 or September 4.
A centre spokesman said the US Department of Agriculture had issued a notice indicating that the allegedly contaminated items were being recalled.
鈥淯pon learning of the incident, the Centre for Food Safety immediately followed up on the case. A preliminary investigation found that a vendor, City鈥檚uper, had sold one of the affected packs [size: 12oz, with a use-by date of July 26, 2025],鈥 the spokesman said.
The high-end supermarket chain had stopped product sales and taken packs off its shelves while initiating a recall, he said.
The spokesman said that while listeria could be easily killed by cooking, it might survive and multiply at refrigerator temperature.
He added that infected people might only experience mild symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea, but in severe cases, complications could arise, including sepsis, meningitis or even death among newborns, the elderly and those with weaker immune systems.
The centre said it would alert the relevant trade to the incident, adding investigations were under way.