The owner of a renowned family-run fermented bean curd brand, Liu Ma Kee, admitted on Monday that it started importing fermented bean curd 30 years ago instead of producing its own, with the product being sold after seasoning and repackaging.
Jay Liu Fong-yip, a grandson of the family-run brand, told a radio program this morning that Liu Ma Kee had not manufactured the white fermented bean curd for the past years after its factory in Hong Kong failed to keep up with tightened sewage regulations.
His comments came after the Centre for Food Safety said last week that the brand did not produce its own fermented bean curd, with the center finding excessive bacteria in its products earlier this month.
Read more: Bean curd row continues to heat up
Liu said the decision came after a tweak in the city’s sewage regulations requiring its factory to dilute acidic water - a by-product of making the raw fermented tofu - before discharging them.
He said even with the costly treatment equipment installed, his factory still failed to keep up with the new regulations, which they chose to import the tofu from the mainland in a bid to keep the business.
He also insisted that the products were “manufactured in Hong Kong,” with the whole manufacturing process still involving another five to six procedures, including further fermentation, seasoning, and filling in bottles, all done in the city.
Meanwhile, Liu apologized to the Centre for Food Safety for overreacting to their recent findings regarding its product, which he said is hard for people to understand his family’s years of persistence to keep the business going.
