Hong Kong Trade Guidelines on Safe Production of Rice and Noodles

This set of guidelines is intended for food businesses that prepare and sell rice and/or noodles at premises. It aims to help food trade implement food safety measures in their operations in order to produce and sell wholesome and safe rice and/or noodles.

Introduction
Uncooked rice and milled cereal products such as flour are raw agricultural commodities. They are naturally associated with a variety of microorganisms such as mould, yeast and bacteria. In general, uncooked rice and milled cereal products are dried to inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
When rice and noodles are cooked thoroughly, most microorganisms that may be present in food are destroyed. However, some bacterial spores e.g. Bacillus cereus spores may survive cooking. Prolonged storage of cooked products under room temperature may allow these spores to germinate, multiply and produce heat-stable toxin. In addition, unhygienic handling of cooked rice and noodle products may result in contamination by dangerous microorganisms e.g. Staphylococcus aureus which may be present on human skin. In order to ensure food safety, it is important to implement food safety measures in the production of rice and noodles.