Dumplings dumped after taint fears

SHANGHAI’S market watchdog yesterday ordered supermarkets and shops to carry out inspections after a major Chinese food producer said traces of the African swine fever virus had been found in its frozen dumplings.

Sanquan Food, based in Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan Province, issued a statement yesterday confirming media reports that contaminated pork dumplings were detected in two provinces.

Samples from three batches of the company’s pork-filled dumplings tested positive for the nucleic acid associated with African swine fever.

The samples were collected in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, and in Jiuquan, Gansu Province.

So far, no contaminated products have been found in Shanghai, according to the Shanghai Market Supervision and Management Bureau.

Carrefour China said that although it didn’t find any tainted dumplings in its outlets across the country, it has removed the products of the three batches from its shelves.

Lianhua Supermarket said it has not detected any contaminated products and is closely following the investigation.

Auchan Supermarket said it has taken all pork-filled dumplings from Sanquan off its shelves.

E-commerce platforms including Taobao, Tmall and Suning have removed the products of the involved batches.

The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs yesterday urged pork food firms to enhance their management of pork to guard against African swine fever.

The authorities required local governments to beef up risk control measures, regulate information disclosure and crack down on unscrupulous firms.

Sanquan said suspect batches of dumplings had reached grocery stores, but that it was sealing affected products and cooperating with authorities.

The food manufacturer said it will ask pork suppliers to enhance testing and checks.

Investigation teams established by authorities in Henan have arrived in Hunan and Gansu.

African swine fever is not harmful to humans but can be fatal to pigs.

Officials have said hundreds of thousands of pigs were culled in a bid to stop the spread of the virus — an effort that has also seen restrictions placed on moving pigs from affected areas.

The first cases were detected in August, and the disease has spread to 25 provinces and regions.

China is the world’s biggest consumer and producer of pork. Dumplings are a central meal for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Sanquan’s shares fell 1.72 percent by the end of trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday. The benchmark Shenzhen index ended up 3.71 percent.

(Shanghai Daily/Agencies)