China on closer watch over food from Japan
By Beijing (Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-09-23 09:09
China's quality watchdog Thursday issued another warning, the third in nine
days, over substandard food and cosmetic products imported from Japan.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine
said its local offices have found harmful substances in nearly 10 batches of
food imports from Japan in recent days.
In one case, inspection authorities in Zhejiang Province in East China
detected an arsenic content 22 times over the national limit in two batches of
frozen fish imported from Japan.
In another case, authorities in Liaoning in northeast China detected
higher-than-permissible lead content in soybean cooking oil imported from Japan.
Other products in which harmful elements were found include soy sauce and
peanuts.
The watchdog said it has ordered local offices to beef up the inspection of
food imports from Japan.
On Thursday last week, the quality watchdog said it had detected neodymium
and chromium -- banned substances that can cause allergic dermatitis and eczema
-- in Japanese SK-II cosmetic products.
P&G China, the distributor of SK-II in China, has begun to recall the
suspect products, but insists its products are safe.
A day before that, the Chinese quality watchdog said it had detected
excessive contents of lead, cadmium, preservatives and other harmful elements in
nearly 30 batches of food imported from Japan.
It said that the Japanese government had been informed of the finds and asked
to tighten control over the quality of food exported to China.
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