Wenzhou hit by expired meat scandal
Staff Reporter 2013-06-17 08:39
A seller adds a red pigment to braised meat to make it look more appealing. (Internet Photo)
China has been hit by another food safety scandal after the police found a large number of problem meat products in Wenzhou in east China's Zhejiang province, reports our sister paper Want Daily.
Local authorities found expired braised pork knuckles and chicken legs on sale in several districts in Wenzhou, with the amount of expired food reportedly reaching 1,000 kilograms. The food, which has since been confiscated, is believed to have been up to a year out of date.
The police found that the sellers had used detergent to wash the meat of any odor and stop it from attracting insects. One seller told the police that he knew his actions in selling the expired meat was illegal, however it was very profitable and he was able to sell up to 1,500 kilograms in a single day.
There is rising sensitivity in China to the issue of tainted food following a string of scandals, including KFC China being found using chicken tainted with high levels of antibiotics and hormones last year, and most notably the melamine scandal in 2008 that caused hundreds of thousands of infants to develop kidney stones, resulting in six deaths.
