Twenty-one food trade associations and 1,700 licensed food premises, supermarkets and convenience stores have signed the Food Safety Charter this year, Director of Food & Environmental Hygiene Cheuk Wing-hing says.

Speaking at the Food Safety Charter 2009 presentation ceremony today, he said the charter signatories have pledged to disseminate the Five Keys to Food Safety messages to their staff, and put the measures into practice.

The centre has introduced a recognition scheme for associations and food premises that sign the charter for three consecutive years. People can identify the signatories by the display of the Food Safety Charter 2009 certificate and label inside the premises, and the Food Safety Charter 2009 badges worn by staff.

Food safety keys effective

According to a survey conducted by the Centre for Food Safety, the public acknowledges the effectiveness of the Five Keys in ensuring food safety.

About 96% of people surveyed agreed on the first four measures - concerning choosing raw materials, keeping hands and utensils clean, separating raw and cooked food, and cooking food thoroughly. About 80% agreed on the measure of cooking food at safe temperatures.

Although the public had a fair knowledge of the Five Keys, few of them were aware of the 20-second rule for washing hands (24%) and that cooked food should have a minimal core temperature of 75 degrees Celsius to ensure it was thoroughly cooked (27%).

Most people had adopted proper food-safety measures concerning choosing raw materials (82%), keeping hands and utensils clean (81%) and cooking food thoroughly (96%).

However, nearly half of them had neglected the other two keys - separating food (48%) and cooking food at safe temperature (45%).