Officials on Monday urged people to refrain from bringing regulated food from mainland China and overseas into Hong Kong as this poses a food safety risk and violates the law.

In a joint press conference with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Customs and Excise Department noted there were 1,057 cases of importing regulated goods last year, a similar level to 2019.

Officers said there were almost 400 such cases in the first three months of this year, adding that in most scenarios travellers brought fresh meat and eggs for personal use.

“We haven’t seen a tremendous increase in the smuggling trend or passengers bringing in regulated food. But we think there's a need for us to bring to the attention of the public, so that they are not going to bring in any regulated food in the upcoming Golden Week holidays,” Divisional Commander Tang Wai-pong said.

He noted more people had been heading north to buy groceries from mainland supermarkets.

“There's a chance that they think buying [regulated] food from the supermarkets will have less food safety issues. But it's still against the law,” he said.

Tang said Customs would step up enforcement actions during May's Golden Week as more visitors are expected during that period.