Consumer Council conducted a test on the safety and hygienic conditions of cooking salt available in the market. The test, which quoted the national standard GB 2721-2003 'Hygienic standard for cooking salt', examined 18 salt examples for their contained levels of elements including heavy metals, iodine, and nitrite, etc. All samples complied with the quoted standard. Test result can be found in the latest issue no. 214 Consumer Report. Consumer Council has conducted irregular tests on salt in recent years to ensure their safety conditions. In the current test, the Council tested not only the safety and hygienic conditions of salt but also the accuracy of weight and label claims. 1 salt sample was found to weigh less than the weight labeled; another salt sample with 'iodised' label was found to contain only an amount of iodine less than the required amount of the quoted national standard. Only those samples with 20-50mg of iodine/kg can be classified as 'iodised' salt. Consumer Council has forwarded these cases to concerned departments and requested suppliers to adjust the labels of the involved products. Consumer Council indicates that many salt brands are now advertised as 'non-chemical processed' or 'with no additives' and their average selling price is sometimes as high as 20 times of that of other brands. However, testing result shows no distinct difference between these salt samples and other brands with average price of around 1 to 2 dollars. Result of the mentioned test on cooking salt can be found in issue no. 214 Consumer Report. The latest Consumer Report also covers details of the 'Code of Practice' for souvenir retailers (specialty foods), and the 19th Consumers International (CI) World Congress held earlier. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the two offices of Consumer Council, Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources online at the Council's official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
