Prof. WONG Ka-hing, Management Committee Member of PAIR, Director of the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, has been appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Expert Committee on Food Safety by the HKSAR Government for a term of two years with effect from 15 September 2024. The expert committee is responsible for providing advice to the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene on matters relating to food safety.
He has also been awarded a HK$3.58M grant from the Sustainable Agricultural Development Fund (SADF) of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the HKSAR for his project titled “Research and Development of Bio-fortification Technology for Precision Hydroponics”.
The project aims to develop bio-fortification technology for precision hydroponics and to analyse the effects of different chemical forms and concentrations of calcium, iron and iodine on the growth of common vegetables in Hong Kong. Through co-operation with a local hydroponic farm, the project will set up a pilot-scale production line and formulate the standard operating procedure (SOP) under which the fortified hydroponic vegetables will be tested and evaluated. The project will also conduct in vitro studies to determine the effects of different cooking methods on the calcium, iron and iodine content and intestinal absorption rate of the fortified Chinese hydroponic vegetables.
