Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety has urged the public not to consume several Häagen-Dazs products manufactured in France that were found to contain a chemical used as a pesticide.
It added that the importer has stopped selling and removed from shelves the affected batches of the products as well as initiated a recall.
In a press release issued on Sunday, the center said it received a notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Commission that the ice cream products were found to contain ethylene oxide, a violation of European Union (EU) food safety standards.
The specific products are the Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream Pint (473 milliliters), Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream Mini Cup (100 milliliters), Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream Mini Cup (75 milliliters) and Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream Bulk (9.46 liters).
They are all imported by General Mills Hong Kong with best-before dates ranging from July 3, 2022 to July 17, 2023.
The center also told businesses to stop using or selling the products concerned immediately if they had any in their possession.
A spokesman for the center said, “Upon learning of the incident, the [center] immediately contacted the local importer for a follow-up. Preliminary investigations found that the importer had imported into Hong Kong the affected batches of the products concerned.”
Members of the public may call General Mills Hong Kong at 2280 4996 during office hours for inquiries about the recall.
The center said it will alert trade groups about the incident and will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. An investigation is ongoing.
