Public Urged to Avoid Ice Cream Products From France Due to Possible Pesticide Contamination

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has urged the public to avoid consuming two ice cream products from France, as per a press release on Aug. 4. The ice cream brand concerned is Häagen-Dazs.

The two kinds of ice cream from the brand may be contaminated with ethylene oxide, a pesticide that is not authorised by the European Union (EU).

The specific product names are Häagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream and Häagen-Dazs Cookies & Cream Ice Cream, imported by General Mills Hong Kong Limited. The affected batches range in net volumes from 80 millilitres to 9.46 litres with best-before dates from May 2023 to June 2023. It is recommended for the public to check the full product details on CFS' website.

A CFS spokesman was quoted as saying that the centre was notified by the European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) regarding the possibly contaminated products.

"Upon learning of the incident, the CFS immediately contacted local importers for follow-up," the spokesman said. "Preliminary investigation found that the above-mentioned importer had imported into Hong Kong the affected batches of the products concerned."

General Mills Hong Kong has since stopped selling the products and removed them from store shelves, as well as issued a recall. The CFS said that an investigation is underway.