Soy sauce producer in cancer scare probe
By Staff Reporters |
May 25, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A condiment producer in a south China city is being investigated over claims it used illegal industrial salt, which can cause cancer, in its soy sauce to cut costs.
The Weiji Food Seasonings Co Ltd in Foshan, Guangdong Province, produced 90 boxes of mushroom soy sauce using industrial salt, with 65 boxes already on the market, authorities said. Each box contains 12 bottles.
They said the company had bought 3 tons of industrial salt and mixed it into about 26 tons of water. Some of the water was used to produce the 90 boxes of soy sauce, they said.
Industrial salt contains excessive heavy metals and can cause cancer, but Foshan food safety officials said the seized products had been tested and met quality standards.
"Perhaps the industrial salt is not a major ingredient, that's why the soy sauce still measured up to standard. But the company's practice is unquestionably illegal," an official said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The scare caused problems for one of China's leading manufacturers - Foshan Haday Flavoring & Food Co Ltd - because some of its products are branded "Weiji," which means "superior."
At the press conference organized by the Foshan Industrial and Commercial Administration, Haday stressed that it had no connection with the industrial salt investigation.
"We never commissioned Weiji to produce any products. All the salt we use in our products is edible and refined," Haday said in a statement yesterday.
It began producing its "Weiji" series of products, which include light soy source and mature vinegar, in 1994, a company official said. The Weiji company was registered four years later and wasn't allowed to use the name on its products, he said.
He believed the company had chosen its name to trade on Haday's reputation for superior products.
The Nanfang Daily reported that the products at the center of the investigation were branded "Weiding" and sold in Yangjiang in Guangdong.
Shanghai industrial and commercial authorities said the soy sauce in question was not available locally. "If these sauces are found in Shanghai, they will be removed from shelves," said Zhang Yusong, an official with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
The Weiji Food Seasonings Co Ltd in Foshan, Guangdong Province, produced 90 boxes of mushroom soy sauce using industrial salt, with 65 boxes already on the market, authorities said. Each box contains 12 bottles.
They said the company had bought 3 tons of industrial salt and mixed it into about 26 tons of water. Some of the water was used to produce the 90 boxes of soy sauce, they said.
Industrial salt contains excessive heavy metals and can cause cancer, but Foshan food safety officials said the seized products had been tested and met quality standards.
"Perhaps the industrial salt is not a major ingredient, that's why the soy sauce still measured up to standard. But the company's practice is unquestionably illegal," an official said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The scare caused problems for one of China's leading manufacturers - Foshan Haday Flavoring & Food Co Ltd - because some of its products are branded "Weiji," which means "superior."
At the press conference organized by the Foshan Industrial and Commercial Administration, Haday stressed that it had no connection with the industrial salt investigation.
"We never commissioned Weiji to produce any products. All the salt we use in our products is edible and refined," Haday said in a statement yesterday.
It began producing its "Weiji" series of products, which include light soy source and mature vinegar, in 1994, a company official said. The Weiji company was registered four years later and wasn't allowed to use the name on its products, he said.
He believed the company had chosen its name to trade on Haday's reputation for superior products.
The Nanfang Daily reported that the products at the center of the investigation were branded "Weiding" and sold in Yangjiang in Guangdong.
Shanghai industrial and commercial authorities said the soy sauce in question was not available locally. "If these sauces are found in Shanghai, they will be removed from shelves," said Zhang Yusong, an official with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
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