China’s coronavirus testing rules for frozen meats give importers a chill
- Companies report already-low margins are being squeezed further as they comply with stricter requirements, despite WHO advice
- Cases of imports contaminated with the virus continue to pile up and Chinese officials are taking no chances
China detected more than 40 batches of samples infected with the new coronavirus from more than a dozen countries between July and November, according to reports compiled by Reuters.
Nationwide random inspections yielded positive tests just 0.48 times per 10,000, Li Ning from the National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment said last week.
The cases continue to pile in. On Tuesday, Chinese customs suspended beef imports from Argentine company Ecocarnes for one week after the new coronavirus was detected on its products. The company was also ordered to take emergency preventive measures.
Then, on Thursday, the detection of the virus on Brazilian pork leg led to the isolation of 55 workers at a logistics facility in Yuhuai, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Also on Thursday, officials in the city of Houma in Shanxi province, central China, detected traces of the new coronavirus on the packaging of imported frozen fish from Thailand. Local health authorities said the contamination was found before the product reached the market.
The World Health Organization said last month that although countries like China, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand had detected the virus on food packaging, it believed it was “highly unlikely” people could contract Covid-19 from food packaging.
