Dear ZHANG Luiting,

        I refer to your application by three email messages, two on 30
September 2021 and the third one on 4 October, for information related to
the " 'Salt/Sugar' Label Scheme for Prepackaged Pood Products" Scheme.  

2.        Your application has been received and is being processed.  As
more time is required to prepare for the required information, pursuant to
paragraph 1.16 of the Code, you will be advised further in relation to
your request on or before 20 October 2021.

3.        Should you have any questions, please contact me at 2867 5505.

Yours sincerely,

(LOH Shing Wai)
for Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene

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Dear ZHANG Luting,
       Thank you for your email enquiries to Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department dated 30 September 2021 at 15:10 and 15:12, and 4
October 2021.  
2.        The Committee on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food (CRSS), the
Food and Health Bureau and the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food
and Environmental Hygiene Department jointly introduced a voluntary “Salt
/ Sugar” Label Scheme for Prepackaged Food Products (the Scheme) to help
consumers to identify low-salt-low-sugar products more easily and to make
informed choices.
3.        Please find consolidated replies to your questions as follows:

Replies to the email enquiry at 15:10, 30 September 2021

Q1. Please provide the list (including total number) of manufacturers
registering this programme on the label of “no salt/low salt” every year;
the latest list (including the total number) of registered manufacturers
on the label of “no salt” and “low salt”; the list (including the total
number) of products in this programme on the label of “no salt/low salt”
every year; the latest list (including total number) of products in this
programme on the label of “no salt” and “low salt”.
 
Q2. Some relevant data responding to the Q1 are available on the website
[1]https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme...,
but they are difficult to curate.  Please kindly upload the data to the
government data portal [2]http://data.gov.hj/sc/.

Answer to Q1 and Q2

Details of companies and "No salt"/"Low salt" products currently
participating in the Scheme can be found in attached document (as at 11
October 2021).  The information is constantly updated according to
notification received on participation and withdrawal of products.  This
current list posted on CFS' webpage
[3](https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme...)
is considered to be sufficient to serve its purpose to facilitate
consumers to identify low-salt-low-sugar products using the labels.

As mentioned above, the list is constantly updated according to latest
information available thus CFS does not keep lists of products
participating in the Scheme every year.

Replies to the email enquiry at 15:12, 30 September 2021 and on 4 October
2021

Q1. Referring to the official website
([4]https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme...)
for the “‘Salt/Sugar’ Label Scheme for Prepackaged Food Products”
programme,  the government has promoted the “low salt” and “no salt”
labels with three language versions: Chinese, English and Bilingual,
available in colour and black-and-white version. For the participating
merchants, the government takes the “voluntary participation” principle.
The government has also made advertising videos to promote the programme.
Therefore, does the government or relevant department responsible for this
programme have further measures to keep promoting and advertising this
programme on the label of “no salt/low salt”? If any, please provide some
details.
 
Answer to Q1

The Government has been promoting the “Salt/sugar” Label Scheme (“the
scheme”) for prepackaged food products through various channels.  To
enhance the public awareness of the Scheme, the Government has launched
various promotion effort, e.g., broadcasting Announcement of Public
Interest (API) and publicity campaigns targeting different age groups of
the general population.  There is also publicity in other channels such as
MTR advertisements, newspaper articles, online articles, newsletters or
publications of chambers/trade associations and social media (e.g.
Facebook and Instagram).  On the other hand, a talk has been delivered to
the Wholesale and Retail Task Force of the Business Facilitation Advisory
Committee to enhance trade awareness of the Scheme.
 
Q2. How does the government or relevant department responsible for this
programme evaluate the impact and effectiveness of this programme on the
label of “no salt/low salt”?

Q3. Does the government or relevant department responsible for this
programme collect the feedback from consumers to analyze the effectiveness
of this programme’s implementation on the label of “no salt/low salt” and
make immediate adjustments? If any, please provide the relevant
information.

Answer to Q2 and Q3
The Government will continue its efforts in promoting the Scheme to the
public and introducing it to the trade to enlist further support.  We are
keeping in view the public awareness and reaction towards the Scheme
through our engagement with the public from time to time with the view to
making necessary adjustment as and when needed.

4.        Should you have further enquiries on the issue, please feel free
to contact me by email or call me at 2867 5505.

Regards,
(LOH Shing Wai)
for Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene

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