The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered local authorities to
inspect markets and farms and punish those who are still selling
"red-yolk" eggs which have been found to contain a carcinogenic red
dye.
The move follows the discovery that farmers in Hebei Province
had been feeding red dye to ducks so they would produce the
expensive red-yolk eggs. The eggs were then found on sale in
Beijing.
The ministry ordered local governments to investigate the
poultry farms, destroy eggs that contain Sudan dyes and crack down
on the illegal process of adding the dye to duck feed.
Red Sudan dyes are used in the leather and fabric industries.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World
Health Organization, has categorized Sudan dyes as Group 3
genotoxic carcinogens.
Last year, the ministry reiterated the ban on production, sale
and use of Sudan dyes in food, after it was found in some brands of
pepper sauce, chili oil and fast food giant KFC's New Orleans roast
chicken wings.
The contamination of the duck eggs from Hebei was first
disclosed in a weekly quality report program on China Central
Television. The Beijing authorities immediately banned the sale of
red-yolk eggs from Hebei and advised consumers to return them.
"Sales of all red-yolk salted duck eggs from neighboring Hebei
Province have been banned temporarily in markets, shopping malls
and stores in Beijing," said a spokeswoman surnamed Wang with the
Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce.
(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2006)