China food scandal: meat producer exposed using food off the floor and making staff wear filthy uniforms in undercover report

A food safety scandal has engulfed China’s largest meat producer after an undercover investigation showed workers using meat that had dropped on the floor, wearing dirty smelly uniforms and forging staff health certificates.

Jiangxi TV Station exposed the unhygienic work practices at meat producer Nanchang Shuanghui Food’s factory in Jiangxi province, eastern China, on Monday, ahead of World Consumer Rights Day on Tuesday.

The undercover report by a female journalist who started work in the factory at the end of last month revealed workers there were told to wear dirty uniforms. A manager rejected the reporter’s request to change a uniform that had turned yellow, black and smelled bad.

Most workers had not undergone a compulsory health examination, as required by the authorities for food companies, and their health certificates were forged by Shuanghui, the report said.

Although food safety slogans and hygiene rules are signposted almost everywhere in the plant, the reporter found very few workers followed the rules closely.

In one half-hour period, the reporter observed 11 workers enter the factory and noted that none used alcohol to disinfect their hands in the disinfection area as legally required.

One worker didn’t even didn’t wash her hands before entering the work area.

In the meat processing area, when a piece of pork chop fell onto the ground, a worker picked it up and packaged it without even attempting to clean it.