Organic cons leave bad taste

The lack of a law to label organic food is leaving consumers vulnerable to unscrupulous tactics by vendors, visitors at an Organic Day exhibition were told yesterday.

Speaking at the exhibition's launch at Central's Chater Garden, Jonathan Wong Woon-chung, professor at Baptist University's Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, said at present there is no law governing the certification of organic foods in Hong Kong.

"Consumers are quite helpless in this situation," he said.

Warning that uninformed consumers can be misled into paying a premium for so-called organic products, he said simply using compost to grow produce does not make it truly organic.

ADVERTISEMENT

A recent survey of 460 shoppers found that although 69 percent had heard of organic foods, less than half understood that it involved the ecologically friendly production of crops in greenhouse conditions without using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Sixty percent described themselves as skeptical about organic foods while 73 percent did not buy them because they are expensive.

A survey by the center two weeks ago found that only 37 percent of 220 vendors in 33 wet markets sold certified organic products while most did not provide proof.

"Organic foods [such as four apples] typically cost HK$15 at a minimum. What we found were organic foods being sold for less than HK$10. Some unscrupulous vendors have been cashing in on the organic name to cheat customers or conversely to charge a lot more," Wong said.

"There are also vendors who are just plain ignorant about organic foods, and simply see it as a promotional tool to attract customers."

Wong is advocating public education as a short-term strategy to protect consumers, but said long-term solutions such as regulation would protect the legitimacy of the trade.

So far, 106 local organic food producers have registered with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, while the center has certified 43 local producers, with another 17 pending. The department serves in a consultancy role and the center is an independent non-profit organization responsible for certification and inspection.

According to Wong, locally produced organic vegetables make up just 0.01 to 0.02 percent of the total number of vegetables consumed in the territory, with places such as the United States, Australia and China supplying the rest.

The exhibition also included the city's first large-scale organic charity breakfast organized by the Hong Chi Association, which supports the mentally handicapped.