Has your meat been on drugs? Hong Kong's Consumer Council pushes restaurants to stop sourcing animals fattened on hormone supplements

Hong Kong's consumer watchdog is tackling a major public health risk by getting restaurant chains to disclose whether they use meat from animals fed on growth-promoting antibiotics.

The Consumer Council will urge them to set a timetable to stop sourcing meat and poultry from animals that are routinely fattened on the supplements in an effort to stop the spread of deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose a serious hazard.

Council chief executive Gilly Wong Fung-han told the Post: "We are not sure whether these big companies are really unaware of the health risks. We will alert them to the problem if they claim they do not know about it."

She did not identify which restaurant groups would be approached.

"After writing letters to these companies, we will seek to meet with them to discuss their sourcing policies," she said.

The agricultural sector uses about half of the antibiotics produced across the world in livestock production to make animals grow quicker and to treat sick livestock. But the increasing use of antibiotics in animal feed had led to humans developing resistance to antibiotics, imposing an extra burden on the medical system, Wong said.

In the European Union, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have caused 25,000 human deaths a year. The World Health Organisation, which recently organised World Antibiotic Resistance Awareness Week, has warned that without urgent action people are heading for a post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries may once again kill.