HONG KONG (Kyodo) — The manufacturer of canned Chinese pork meat containing chemical residues and sold in Hong Kong had also used contaminated meat, Shanghai's food inspector said Wednesday.
The Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said in a statement that the food maker Shanghai Maling Aquarius Co. had used the contaminated materials from a slaughterhouse outside Shanghai.
The statement said ''3.2 tons of raw materials used to make the canned meat were contaminated.'' ''Shanghai Maling Aquarius Co. had bought the stock of raw materials from a slaughter house outside Shanghai in September 2006 and used them in the production of the canned pork meat in December 2006.''
The bureau has demanded the company recall the products.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong's Food Safety Center found carcinogenic chemicals including nitrofuran and malachite green in three of 19 samples of the company's canned pork meat.
After being notified of the test results, the bureau has banned exports of all food products, including canned meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables, from Shanghai Maling Aquarius, a famous Chinese brand in Hong Kong.
The bureau's statement, however, did not disclose the name of the slaughterhouse or the cause of contamination.
The statement said subsequent testing of 120 other samples for six carcinogenic chemicals were all negative and the bureau would rescind the export ban once the company has improved management of its raw material sourcing.
China is the largest food source for Hong Kong, and the Chinese food safety watchdog has promised to uphold tight inspection standards for exports to Hong Kong.
