Roast snack seeds tainted with harmful dyes pulled off market
AFTER an investigative media report found that green tea flavor snack seeds turned water green within 20 seconds due to a possibly harmful dye, Shanghai's market watchdog yesterday ordered retailers to stop selling some snack seeds from Anhui Province.
Seed samples are being tested and companies turning out goods that fail quality tests will be punished, officials of the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said yesterday.
A local consumer complained that his tongue turned green after eating snack seeds during the Spring Festival, according to a Shanghai Media Group TV news report. The report said water turned green when seeds with green tea flavor were dipped in it.
In Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, a major supplier of Shanghai's roasted seeds and nuts, reporters found toxic chemicals were widely added to roasted seeds and nuts, some in large amounts, the report said. Workers at both Shenxin Snack Seed Factory and Nanri Snack Seed Factory in Xuancheng said their products were dyed.
A manager of a local talc factory said a large number of snack seed producers bought industrial talc from it. The powder, containing carcinogenic substances, makes seeds look bright and smooth.
A sales manager of the Shanghai Fengchen Powdery Material Co Ltd said talc was commonly used in roasted seeds and nuts nationwide and no death was ever reported from eating snack seeds.
Additives like alums, used as a food preservative and in cosmetics and industrial processes, and sodium metabisulfite, a food preservative, are also commonly added into roasted seeds and nuts in excessive amounts that can harm health, the report said.
A local consumer, Shen Hui, said she would no longer eat snack seeds with red tea or green tea flavor after the report. "I like green tea snack seeds, but I will not eat them any more," she said.
Seed samples are being tested and companies turning out goods that fail quality tests will be punished, officials of the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said yesterday.
A local consumer complained that his tongue turned green after eating snack seeds during the Spring Festival, according to a Shanghai Media Group TV news report. The report said water turned green when seeds with green tea flavor were dipped in it.
In Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, a major supplier of Shanghai's roasted seeds and nuts, reporters found toxic chemicals were widely added to roasted seeds and nuts, some in large amounts, the report said. Workers at both Shenxin Snack Seed Factory and Nanri Snack Seed Factory in Xuancheng said their products were dyed.
A manager of a local talc factory said a large number of snack seed producers bought industrial talc from it. The powder, containing carcinogenic substances, makes seeds look bright and smooth.
A sales manager of the Shanghai Fengchen Powdery Material Co Ltd said talc was commonly used in roasted seeds and nuts nationwide and no death was ever reported from eating snack seeds.
Additives like alums, used as a food preservative and in cosmetics and industrial processes, and sodium metabisulfite, a food preservative, are also commonly added into roasted seeds and nuts in excessive amounts that can harm health, the report said.
A local consumer, Shen Hui, said she would no longer eat snack seeds with red tea or green tea flavor after the report. "I like green tea snack seeds, but I will not eat them any more," she said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.