Chinese food producers warned pork consumption will suffer after more reports of African swine fever
- Inspectors in Hunan and Gansu say products tested positive for virus
- Market analysts revise poultry meat consumption estimates upwards
Chinese frozen food producer Sanquan said on Monday it had recalled products that may be contaminated with African swine fever, after media reports that some dumplings had tested positive for the virus.
On Friday, the Communist Party-run Beijing News said that dozens of samples of processed pork products sold in the northwestern province of Gansu were found to contain the virus.
African swine fever is incurable in pigs but does not harm people. An epidemic of the disease has spread rapidly across China since August 2018, reaching 25 provinces and regions.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Monday that it had set up an inspection team to investigate the matter and asked companies involved to track the origin of pork used in the reportedly contaminated products.
Producers of pork products must strengthen controls and improve testing for African swine fever to ensure tainted pork did not enter the food processing chain, it said.
The positive samples from Gansu, confirmed by local authorities, according to the report, came from 11 companies, including Sanquan, Kedi Group and Synear.
