【明報專訊】AFTER the eruption of the gutter oil scandal in Taiwan, it took the Centre for Food Safety more than a week to announce that six importers and 383 downstream businesses in Hong Kong had to do with the lard produced by Taiwan's Chang Guann, and order that all their lard and lard products be marked, sealed, and destroyed. The centre is known to have got the relevant information from Taiwan as early as 11th September, which was last Thursday. Its failure to publish the information expeditiously is an example of the centre's inability to take timely action. Food safety officials said in their own defence that they had already urged the public not to consume the products in question, but how could the public know what products were in question when the names of the shops concerned were not disclosed? The Macao authorities had published the details of the shops concerned two or three days before their Hong Kong counterparts did. As Hong Kong and Macao are similarly situated, why is Hong Kong outdone by Macao in this respect? This is a question the Hong Kong government has to answer.