Organisations launch new scheme in Hong Kong to upgrade traceability of food amid coronavirus-related concerns

A scheme to improve the traceability of products in companies’ supply chains has been upgraded using a trio of international standards as Hong Kong consumers grow increasingly worried about food safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The local branch of global supply chain standards organisation GS1 teamed up with third-party quality auditor SGS Hong Kong to launch the upgraded Quality Food Scheme+.

Under the new programme, companies will be assessed not only under the GS1 Global Traceability Standard (GTS), but also the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) systems. The audit system will rank applicants into three tiers: silver, gold and, at the top, diamond.

The city’s Centre for Food Safety has issued more than 75 food irregularity alerts since the start of the year involving seafood, vegetables and sauces imported from around the world, which were subsequently taken off shelves.

Anna Lin, chief executive of GS1 Hong Kong, said local citizens had become extra cautious when purchasing food as the Covid-19 pandemic affected the global food supply chain.

“Customers want to know where their food comes from, how it’s produced and how it has been transported and handled … before they can eat at ease,” Lin said.

Several Covid-19 scares have cropped up around food since the pandemic began. In August, Danish Crown, Europe’s largest pork exporter shut its facility near Copenhagen after nearly 150 employees tested positive for the coronavirus. The company clarified on social media that exports from the plant were suspended, and that all products on sale in Hong Kong were made during or before June.