Supermarket chain ParkNshop’s food-safety laboratory has been accredited for testing for pesticides residue.
This means its reports will be recognised internationally.
Its accreditation for organochlorine pesticides residue testing under the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (Hoklas) was granted by the Hong Kong Accreditation Service under the Innovation and Technology Commission.
Only seven laboratories have been accredited by Hoklas for testing organochlorine pesticides, and ParkNshop is the first supermarket chain to qualify. In 2008, the supermarket became the first retailer to earn HHoklas accreditation for the microbiological testing of foods.
ParkNshop also leads the industry with its “Farm Check” good agricultural practice system for its vegetables farmed in mainland China. The chain’s agricultural experts assess, train, audit and monitor the farming process, while a barcode system tracks the complete “farm-to-sale” history of each vegetable.
ParkNshop’s “Farm Check” system includes a laboratory testing program accredited under the Hoklas scheme. Samples from each type of vegetable from each farm are taken every night for pesticide residue tests.