HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 9 September 2020 – GS1 Hong Kong launches a brand new “Quality Food Scheme+” programme to encourage food & beverage enterprises to adopt more stringent measures in accordance with internationally accredited standards in terms of management, control and traceability, for example identifying critical control points along the food supply chain, which helps to enhance food safety and instil trust in consumers.
Under the new Scheme, participating enterprises are assessed based on more comprehensive internationally accredited food safety standards, including GS1 Global Traceability Standard, ISO 22000 – Food Safety Management System Standard, as well as HACCP – Food Safety Control Standard.
“SGS Hong Kong is delighted to collaborate with GS1 Hong Kong to be the audit partner of the new ‘Quality Food Scheme+’. We help food enterprises to engineer food source control, food operations and management in accordance with internationally accredited standards; identify and analyse the potential food safety hazards and risk, from raw materials to products, from manufacturing to handling process; establish control points and formulate monitoring system. It helps enterprises to reduce and control risk, ensure product quality and food safety, protect consumers’ health, build and safeguard food organisation’s market integrity, and ultimately enhance competitiveness.” said Ben Tsang, Managing Director of SGS Hong Kong.
May Chung, Chairperson of Hong Kong Food and Beverage Industry Advisory Board of GS1 HK, and General Manager of Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd., is glad to see the launch of the new Scheme.
“The food and food services industry is facing many challenges, primarily the public trust in food safety. The launch of the new Scheme is a perfect opportunity for the industry to be appraised by 3 international standards, improve food traceability as well as enhance food safety management and control throughout the supply chain. When consumers see the new Scheme logo, they feel safer to buy and consume.”
Patrick Tong, General Manager of the company said, “As a major importer of chilled poultry in Hong Kong and Macau with 10 siu mei restaurants, food safety has always been our focus. The Scheme not only recognised our efforts, but also inspired us to set higher goals, such as enhancing information transparency. We have decided to step up to join the new Scheme, to allow more extensive review on our food safety management and pre-monitoring system, which I believe will elevate our standard in that regard.”
Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 HK, noted, “It is a pleasure to see such tenacity in the food industry to uphold food safety in Hong Kong. In a difficult time like this, joining ‘Quality Food Scheme+’ not only helps companies comply to regulations, but also rebuilds consumer trust and motivates repeat purchase once the situation gets better. Apart from the 2 Schemes, we also offer food safety and traceability training, consultation and track-and-trace solutions. We strive to collaborate with the industry to raise the bar for food safety in Hong Kong, so consumers will come back with a peace of mind.”