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Written by: Chen Shuxia
2021-05-10 17:37
Last update date: 2021-05-10 17:47
A few days ago, the Penny's Bay Quarantine Center was suspected of a mass food poisoning incident. Many people in quarantine also lamented the poor quality of their meals. Many photos of lunch boxes have been circulated on the Internet, among which the texture is similar to the gray-black brick "corn patties" rice. It caused an uproar even more.
A lunch box supplier revealed that the supply of lunch boxes at the quarantine center is not open for bidding. Instead, the government actively invites some industries to participate in the bidding. The terms stipulate that three meals a day and bottled water must be arranged. In addition, special personnel must be arranged to deliver meals and self-delivery. To bear the transportation and logistics costs, it is estimated that the bid-winning supplier will win the contract with the "lowest price". I believe that each lunch box, together with labor and transportation costs, will cost a minimum of about 30 yuan. Obviously, they will "see the food and eat": "make a price." Compressed to a low level, the quality will naturally be bad."
According to government sources, the contract stipulates that the designated meals must be delivered to the quarantine camp "within 30 minutes after shipment", and that lunch boxes must be properly loaded with incubators to ensure food safety.
Meal arrangements for Penny's Bay Quarantine Camp for the past few days:
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Danny Foods has been replaced
After media inquiries, the Department of Health disclosed that the lunch box contractor of the Penny's Bay Quarantine Center was "Danny Foods Co., Ltd.". According to the information, the company originally supplied spoiled lunch boxes two years ago, causing many primary school students to suffer from diarrhea.
The Department of Health recently stated that the supplier has been replaced by "Yuweiwang Catering Management Co., Ltd.".
"Danny Foods Co., Ltd." was founded in 2001. It is a large-scale lunch box supplier in the industry, and it also produces soup dumplings and dishes.
According to information from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, "Danny Foods" has a food business license and is a food factory approved to supply lunch boxes.
The mutant virus has entered Hong Kong. Residents of many buildings, including Block R of Allway Gardens and Block N2 of Kornhill, have to be evacuated to the Penny's Bay Quarantine Center at one time.
(Profile picture)
The government chooses the contractor to enter the bid cost and includes the delivery fee
Some people in the industry said that in the past, they had received government e-mail bid invitations to accept meals at the quarantine center, but there were many restrictions on them. In addition to the three meals a day, they also need to provide drinks including bottled water, and they need to send someone to go there. On-site "Clean Zone" (sterile space) delivery of lunch boxes.
Source: The government only considers non-critical factors for the nutritional value of lunch boxes for the lower price
According to industry sources, after calculating the price of ingredients, production costs, and transportation fees, it is estimated that the minimum consumption for each lunch box is about 30 yuan. "It is basically impossible to use the whole lunch box. Drinks cost money for the same lunch box. The price will only be of poor quality." He believes that the government only focuses on the lowest price when considering it. As for the nutritional value of lunch boxes, it is not a key factor. "The most important thing is to be flat."
He also pointed out that the production process of the meals supplied to the quarantine center is basically the same as that of making school lunch boxes, "all of them are made in the same way."
It is understood that Danny Food’s plant has a certain scale and “should be dealt with.” People in the industry also said that the process of making lunch boxes is racing against time. Generally, “make it and leave”, “start it and come out of the hot cabinet. Arrange for delivery immediately." He speculated that the food poisoning incident may be related to the storage method. "It may be undecided whether it will be sold after leaving the factory."
The quality of meals in the Penny's Bay Quarantine Camp was poor. Among them, the "corn patties" rice, which was similar in texture to bricks, caused an uproar among netizens. The contractor involved was "Danny Food Co., Ltd.".
(Provided by Zhao Enlai, Member of Tsuen Wan District)
As for the quality of food, he said that according to the pictures on the Internet, the quality is not flattering. "When you see the bubbling, it basically doesn't meet the specifications. If it is ours, it will already be thrown away."
The government stipulates that the lunch box should be delivered to the quarantine camp within 30 minutes after the insulation arrangement is completed.
According to a government source, the authorities originally planned to activate the reserve Pat Heung Juvenile Police Call Permanent Activity Center and Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Center to increase quarantine capacity, and has launched an "emergency tender" for food supply, which has set a "designated menu". There are also provisions for lunch box salt, oil, and sugar standards, and contractors are also required to follow food safety procedures, including using professional incubators to load lunch boxes to ensure that food is kept at 60 degrees Celsius or above, or below 4 degrees Celsius.
When carrying packaged food and non-food items, they must also be handled separately to avoid cross-infection.
In addition, the food must be delivered to the quarantine camp within 30 minutes after the preparation is completed to ensure the quality of the food, but the final delivery time can be negotiated, but prior approval from the government department is required.
However, as the Hong Kong government recently changed the new quarantine arrangements for patients with variant viruses living in the epidemic building, the demand for quarantine has dropped significantly, and the two backup quarantine camps do not need to be activated immediately.
▼At about midnight on May 5th, residents of Block N2 of Kornhill were evacuated for quarantine▼
Xu Wenwei, chairman of the Rice Seedling Society, said on the radio program that he believed that this incident was caused by a problem in logistics. He pointed out that the industry has no food manufacturing plant on Lantau and it takes time to get to the Penny's Bay Quarantine Center, plus it is hot and may not be delivered immediately. It may cause problems with food quality and think the situation is not ideal.
He also pointed out that government tenders are awarded to those with the lowest price. It is estimated that the quarantine center's lunch box will win a bid of more than 30 yuan. Many industries are unwilling to bid. He also pointed out that if the "general quality" is to be maintained, at least 40 to 45 yuan per lunch box can be considered reasonable.
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