Recently, a beer test in Hong Kong has attracted a lot of attention. Some of the 30 beers were destined for the Mainland market, and the test results showed that the levels of harmful substances in these beers were seriously exceeded.
This is not only a wake-up call about food safety, but also exposes the unfair behaviour of some companies towards mainland consumers. It's not just about beer, it's about public health and corporate ethics.
On a normal day in 2023, the Consumer Council of Hong Kong conducted a routine food safety test targeting all types of beer sold in the market.
They sampled 30 samples of beers sold in Hong Kong, including some big and niche brands, and the results were shocking: biogenic amines, which can adversely affect human health under certain conditions, were detected in each beer sample.
Two of the beers contained biogenic amines that far exceeded food safety standards. What is even more disturbing is that these two beers are not ordinary imported products, but are specially produced for the mainland market by some well-known mainland beer companies.
This discovery quickly aroused widespread concern in society. Hong Kong's inspectors didn't stop there, and their further testing revealed more serious problems.
In addition to exceeding the limit of biogenic amines, they also detected "vomitoxin" in some samples that were up to 26 times the standard. The name of this toxin sounds scary enough, not to mention that its presence is a serious threat to the health and safety of consumers.
This situation illustrates a serious problem: there is a clear double standard in some companies. For products in the mainland market, they can reduce costs and sacrifice product quality, while export products maintain high standards to pass strict international market inspections.
In the face of increasing accusations and doubts, regulators have had to act. They began a thorough investigation of the companies involved and asked all beer producers to provide detailed information about their product ingredients and production processes for further inspection.
Under public pressure, some companies have begun to voluntarily publish detailed test reports for their products, promising to completely improve their production processes to ensure that all products meet food safety standards.
Some consumer advocacy organizations are taking action by organizing consumers to file class action lawsuits for damages. At the same time, they also launched a signature campaign on major social platforms, calling on government departments to strengthen supervision and crack down on illegal activities.
At the same time, some responsible companies have begun to organize discussions and self-examinations within the industry on their own, hoping to restore consumer confidence through industry self-regulation.
They proposed a series of reform measures, including strengthening the quality control of raw materials, improving the transparency of the production process, and regularly publishing product inspection reports.
The starting point of this event was a beer test, which touched the whole society to think deeply about integrity, responsibility and justice. Every choice reflects a society's values and moral standards. This beer testing incident is undoubtedly a challenge to the current system and a test of everyone's values.