SPEAK UP FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!
Hong Kong`s environmental petition platform
Target: 500
According to World Wildlife Fund of Hong Kong (WWF-HK), their recent survey on Hong Kong grocery retailers’ commercial fridges found that it is common for grocery retailers to have open fridges. This increases the risk of food safety and wastes electricity as well.
The survey found that it is more difficult for the open fridges to maintain the temperature within the food safety margin. According to The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Food Hygiene Code states that all retailers should check the food on time and ensure all the potential harmful food to be kept at 4 degrees Celsius or below. The US Food and Drug Administration recommends that the standard cold storage temperature should be 5 degrees Celsius. The test results shows that most open fridges cannot stay below 5 degrees Celsius most of the time.
It has been recorded as high as 11.4 Celsius in some stores. According to the Laws of Hong Kong, milk or milk-based beverages during sales period should be kept below 10 degrees Celsius. However, it is currently common for grocery retailers to have open fridges, meaning this cannot guarantee the food is constantly maintained in a safe environment.
An open fridge consumes nearly 5,000 kWh of additional electricity every year than one with closed doors. There are approximately 18,0000 open fridges in Hong Kong grocery retailer brands. According to the information above, it is projected to reduce emissions of 51,000 metric tons of carbon annually if all fridges are fitted with doors. This is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide for over 200 million trees to absorb a year.
Open fridges also accelerate climate change. If retailers simply install two fridge doors to an open fridge, the monthly electricity savings is equivalent to the electricity consumption of an average Hong Kong household. Fitting doors to open fridges is one of the effective solutions to ease climate change and protect our Earth. Let us join hands and demand retailers to fit doors to their grocery fridges as to fulfil social responsibilities.
I recommend the retail groups mentioned above to initiate this policy as soon as possible. It is recommended to fit doors to all open fridges in their stores or replace them with ones that do. The reasons are stated below:
1. Stop wasting electricity and reduce carbon emissions
There are about 18,0000 open fridges in Hong Kong grocery retailer brands. If all fridges have doors, it is projected to reduce emissions of 51,000 metric tons of carbon annually. This is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide for over 200 million trees to absorb a year. Fitting doors to open fridges greatly reduces electricity consumption and carbon emissions. It helps to save production costs as well.
2. Ensuring food safety gives consumers a peace of mind when buying a product
Ensure refrigerated food or drink is placed in a sufficiently low and stable range of temperature in the fridges. This reduces the chance of bacterial growth, ensuring food safety.
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Call on supermarkets and convenience stores to fit doors to open grocery fridges
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Call on supermarkets and convenience stores to fit doors to open grocery fridges
Ask your friends and family to support on social media and via email.
Every signature matters!
