Carrefour Shanghai said yesterday that it has pulled a brand of
pickled turnips from its shelves because it was found to contain
Sudan I, an illegal food dye that can cause cancer.
The only local retailer to sell Tantanxiang pickled spicy
turnips, it said it removed the product last Wednesday after
receiving a notice from the manufacturer. It had been sold in
Carrefour for months, a salesperson said yesterday.
The turnips were produced by Changsha Tantanxiang Flavoring and
Food Co Ltd, based in Hunan
Province. Carrefour said that chili power containing Sudan I
was discovered by quality inspection authorities in Zhejiang
Province on March 7.
The provincial bureau of commerce and industry then issued
warnings against the use of related Heinz Guangzhou chili products,
which used additives produced by Guangzhou Tianyang Food Co that
were contaminated with Sudan I. Guangzhou Tianyang also supplied
Changsha Tantanxiang.
"The problem exists in pickled turnips produced between December
last year and January this year," a company official surnamed Peng
told Shanghai Morning Post.
Late last month, Sudan I was found in hundreds of brands of
foods in the UK, where the Food Standards Agency urged food
manufacturers to withdraw their products and warned consumers not
to eat them.
Yesterday, the Shanghai food and drug authority announced it
would take samples from Carrefour Shanghai and conduct laboratory
tests. Both the retailer and the Hunan manufacturer have promised a
full recall of and reimbursement for the products.
Also on Monday, Carrefour Beijing withdrew the same brand of
turnips from the shelves of all its six stores.
Monday also witnessed a mass cafeteria food poisoning in north
China. Around 50 middle school students in Yongnian County in Hebei
Province were diagnosed with nitrite poisoning, local
authorities said.
The students from No.8 Middle School felt sick and experienced
headaches and fever after breakfast. Thirty-two students with clear
symptoms of food poisoning, including nine in a serious condition,
were immediately hospitalized.
Sodium nitrite is a preservative and color fixative used in fish
and meat products. An investigation into the cause of the incident
is underway.
(Shanghai Daily, China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency March
15, 2005)
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