Agence France Presse — English
March 9, 2007 Friday 3:45 AM GMT

Hong Kong bans bottled water brand

Hong Kong’s government has told shops to stop selling a brand of
bottled water US authorities say is contaminated with arsenic.

The health department said US studies had found Jermuk products
contained up to 60 times the international standard for the poisonous
metal.

All Jermuk products, including still and carbonated water, came under
the Hong Kong order, issued after the US Food and Drug Administration
slapped a similar ban on the Armenian brand.

Hong Kong has been plagued by health scares over imported produce,
mainly from China, the former British colony’s principle source of
foodstuff.

Imports of many species of farmed fish, eels and eggs were banned
last year after cancer-causing chemicals were found in some samples.

There have been other recent scares over pork as well as poultry
imports amid concerns over bird flu.