Consumers are urged not to buy or take three batches of a proprietary Chinese medicine - Royal Medic No 1 Chinese Caterpillar Fungus - as its microbial content have been found to have exceeded the maximum permitted limit.

The concerned lot numbers are RM 630021, RM 630023 and RM 6300026.The Department of Health has not yet received any report of adverse drug reactions linked to the product. The manufacturer has been ordered to recall the products from the market and to surrender them to the department.

Under Hong Kong's proprietary Chinese medicine registration system, a product must fulfill, among other things, a requirement for microbial limits. The microbial count is a hygiene-standard indicator.

People who have purchased the concerned batch of the product should stop using it, dispose of or surrender it to the department's pharmaceutical service on 3/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon during office hours.

They can call the manufacturer's hotline, 2877 8866, regarding the recall. The department has also set up a hotline, 2319 5119, for enquiries during office hours.