Nicholas Tse’s ‘Chef Nic’ cookies contain carcinogens: reports

​Less than six months after Nicholas Tse’s ‘Chef Nic’ cookies were pulled from shelves for its abnormal sugar content level, the Hong Kong singer-actor has found himself wrapped up in another food scandal – this time a certain range of cookies were found to contain carcinogens. 

According to news reports, Hong Kong’s consumer council conducted checks on 58 types of cookies and pastries and found that 51 products contain carcinogens. Out of these 51 products, one item belongs to Nicholas’s Chef Nic line and this range of cookies was distributed as wedding favours at Gillian Chung’s recent Hong Kong banquet.

When contacted about these findings, a representative from Chef Nic clarified that the cookies contain acrylamide which is not a man-made additive and is formed when cooking or baking food at high temperatures for an extended time.

The official release issued by Chef Nic also stated that based on reports by the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety, acrylamide is found in home-cooked food too.

“Out of the 58 types of cookies tested in Hong Kong, Chef Nic’s cookies scored a 5 in the safety test results and is one of the best performance scores,” read the statement.

When Chef Nic was hit by a food scandal last year, alleging that their cookies contained five times the amount of sugar stated on its nutrition label, the company refuted these reports and emphaised that the sugar levels in the cookies do not exceed its stated levels.

Nicholas has been making a name for himself in the food industry thanks to his culinary travel show, Chef Nic, which led to the start of his bakery business in 2015 and the creation of his own cookie brand and instant noodles.