'Recycled' rotting meat snacks sold to public
Shanghai Daily, August 24, 2013
Out-of-date chicken drumsticks, wings and ducks' heads are being "cleaned" in underground food mills -- then sold to the unsuspecting public. [File photo]
Expired stewed snacks, usually sold in vacuum-sealed packaging, are collected from companies by unscrupulous processors in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, reported Jiangnan Times yesterday.
Eating such "recycled" food can cause conditions including diarrhea and food poisoning.
Companies whose out-of-date products are collected include Xiangbalao, a famous Wenzhou brand, according to the newspaper.
Collected rotting snacks are unwrapped and then bleached with cleaning powders.
Then they are sold to suppliers who use chemical additives to improve the appearance, repack them and sell them to markets all over the country.
Wenzhou police uncovered 10 underground mills in Zhejiang's Cangnan County in June, as well as large quantities of chemical additives and coloring agents.
Officers said millions of tons of out-of-date packaged food is recycled in Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province.
Expired food is supposed to be reclaimed and destroyed by the manufactures. However, few local companies do this, according to the report.
Such recycled food counts for over 5 percent of the whole industry, it has been claimed.
