Scandal of tainted buns sold to school
By Lu Feiran |
April 18, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN unlicensed steamed bun workshop that was adding prohibited chemicals to its products has been closed by authorities in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Food safety watchdogs said the workshop had produced thousands of steamed buns containing illegal yellow coloring every day for the past two months. Some of the tainted steamed buns were supplied to a local school.
The authorities were checking whether any student had been made sick, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
The Wenzhou Longwan Industrial and Commercial Administrative Office said officials found synthetic lemon yellow dye being applied to unfinished buns during a raid on the workshop on April 15.
They said nearly 200,000 buns were found containing banned dyes and other chemicals.
The buns were being produced at an illegal hideout in a residential building, officials said. The operators didn't have a business license or health certificate. The hideout was dirty and the workers were said to have also eaten and slept there.
Turned yellow
A female worker told officials they added pigment and corn flavors when making dough for "corn buns." For other buns, they added saccharin and flavoring to make them smell and taste better.
Officials said their hands turned yellow when they touched the "corn buns." They found bottles of chemicals but not a single grain of corn.
From an account found in the hideout, the operators earned about 3,000 yuan (US$428) a day, and nearly 200,000 buns were sold from March 22 to April 14, among which about 11,000 were sold to a nearby school.
Chen Xianqun, director of the Wenzhou Food Study Institution, said ingesting large amounts of such chemicals can harm a child's physical development.
The raid in Wenzhou came on the heels of the shutdown of a Shanghai-based company earlier in the week.
Five managers of Shanghai Shenglu Food Co were detained by police for adding similar chemical dyes to steamed buns.
The coloring was to make wheat buns look like corn buns and to sell the fake corn buns at higher prices, food safety officials said.
Shanghai quality authorities are now checking all Chinese style snacks on the market.
Food safety watchdogs said the workshop had produced thousands of steamed buns containing illegal yellow coloring every day for the past two months. Some of the tainted steamed buns were supplied to a local school.
The authorities were checking whether any student had been made sick, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
The Wenzhou Longwan Industrial and Commercial Administrative Office said officials found synthetic lemon yellow dye being applied to unfinished buns during a raid on the workshop on April 15.
They said nearly 200,000 buns were found containing banned dyes and other chemicals.
The buns were being produced at an illegal hideout in a residential building, officials said. The operators didn't have a business license or health certificate. The hideout was dirty and the workers were said to have also eaten and slept there.
Turned yellow
A female worker told officials they added pigment and corn flavors when making dough for "corn buns." For other buns, they added saccharin and flavoring to make them smell and taste better.
Officials said their hands turned yellow when they touched the "corn buns." They found bottles of chemicals but not a single grain of corn.
From an account found in the hideout, the operators earned about 3,000 yuan (US$428) a day, and nearly 200,000 buns were sold from March 22 to April 14, among which about 11,000 were sold to a nearby school.
Chen Xianqun, director of the Wenzhou Food Study Institution, said ingesting large amounts of such chemicals can harm a child's physical development.
The raid in Wenzhou came on the heels of the shutdown of a Shanghai-based company earlier in the week.
Five managers of Shanghai Shenglu Food Co were detained by police for adding similar chemical dyes to steamed buns.
The coloring was to make wheat buns look like corn buns and to sell the fake corn buns at higher prices, food safety officials said.
Shanghai quality authorities are now checking all Chinese style snacks on the market.
- 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.
