Hong Kong baby food producer recalls pastas over rice weevil scare

A Hong Kong baby food producer, Baby Basic, has voluntarily recalled several of its baby food products due to concerns that they might contain rice weevils. The recall, initiated after receiving a report of potential weevil contamination in the vegetable and beef-flavored instant rice-shaped pasta, affects the company's "instant baby congee – konbu salmon" product, which has an expiry date of June 22, 2027, and three varieties of its "instant rice-shaped pasta": salmon and cream; tomato and chicken; and vegetable and beef. The company has also suspended production of these three pasta varieties.

Baby Basic, established in 2015, advised customers who purchased the affected products to request refunds. Consumers could contact the company via hotline at 3563 6236 or WhatsApp at 6994 4069 for assistance. The recall was a precautionary measure to reassure parents, as government food-safety tests had not confirmed any health risks associated with the weevils. Rice weevils are a common contaminant in wheat-based ingredients and can enter the production process through raw materials.

To minimize the risk of insects reaching the production line, Baby Basic has implemented color-sorting and vibration screening to enhance ingredient checks. However, the company acknowledged that rice weevils could still be present in the crops' growing environment and might evade detection during screening, potentially entering manufacturing or packaging processes.

In a separate incident earlier this month, a parent reported that her nine-month-old child almost ingested what appeared to be a cotton ball while consuming Baby Basic's "konbu salmon" flavored instant baby congee. The child managed to spit out the object, and the parent subsequently contacted the brand, sharing a video clip. Baby Basic confirmed that the Centre for Food Safety tested the samples from the incident and found them to contain only plant material, including common dietary fibers, without any insects or foreign matter.

Additionally, the centre tested approximately 45 other samples of Baby Basic's baby food from the market and did not detect any irregularities.