A company in east China's Anhui Province has been fined 50,000 yuan
(about US$6,500) and ordered to cease production of glutinous rice
dumplings, known as zongzi in Chinese.
The 9,400 kilograms of zongzi seized in the company's workshops
and in local markets will be destroyed in public, and the company's
hygiene permit will be revoked, which means the company is
forbidden to produce food, according to a decision made by the
city's Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau in the provincial
capital of Hefei on Tuesday afternoon.
Wanmaomao Frozen Food Co. was caught repackaging old dumplings
produced two years ago. Acting on a tip off, the bureau raided the
company on Sunday.
"The dumplings had gone bad. They were black in appearance and
smelled to high heaven," said Wu Wei, an official with the
bureau.
Wu said the company rented an ice house in a meat-processing
plant in the city and stored about 8,800 kilograms of two-year-old
zongzi there.
They had repackaged about 800 kilograms of the old
zongzi and sold them in Taihu and other cities in the
province. Police said that all the products sold that were past
their use-by date had been recovered.
"In their leave coverings, it's very hard to distinguish bad
dumplings from new ones, so we decided to recall all 'Wanmaomao'
brand products," said Wu.
Zongzi, a traditional snack made of glutinous rice and
various fillings and usually wrapped in reed leaves, is
traditionally eaten during the "dragon boat festival". Chinese
people have been celebrating the "dragon boat festival" for almost
2,300 years.
The leaves used to wrap the problematic zongzi had a
high copper sulfate or copper chloride content to give them a
bright green appearance.
Wu said the company had won a "famous trademark of Hefei" award
in 2003 as well as an "enterprise exempt from inspection and
examination" certificate.
"We have asked the authorities to revoke the award and the
certificate," said Wu.
Company management was unavailable for comment at press
time.
(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2007)
