A statement from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau said, “Coronavirus has been frequently detected in cold chain food imported by customs and local governments, which poses a risk of contamination.”
The bureau urges importers to closely monitor the epidemic situation around the world and “take initiatives to prevent the importation of cold chain food from areas severely affected by the epidemic.” Companies have also been instructed to improve their alerts and reporting mechanisms and to notify officials quickly if products test positive.
Health officials, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), say the chances of catching coronavirus through food are slim, but China, which has largely sealed domestic transmission of the virus. , Is on high alert for possible re-contamination.
Last month, a team of chicken wings imported from Brazil tested positive for coronavirus in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, one of multiple cases in which the virus was found on food products.
These events led to an increase in scrutiny of imported food across the country and further scrutiny of products coming from places badly affected by epidemics such as Brazil.
As of Sept. 7, China had suspended imports from dozens of food companies in at least 19 countries and regions where workers were infected with the coronavirus.
Last week, “emergency precautionary measures” were announced against a Norwegian company after it tested positive for the virus through a frozen seafood package by China’s General Administration of Customs.
On Saturday, customs officials said samples taken from the outer packaging of Russian aquatic products imported into Shandong province tested positive for the coronavirus, while China Customs said on Friday that the inner packaging of a batch of frozen fish from Brazil also tested positive for the virus.
China’s National Health Commission said Monday that in the past 24 hours there have been no cases of a locally infected virus, or any new deaths linked to the epidemic.
According to an estimate obtained by Johns Hopkins University, 90,483 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in China and 4,739 people have died. Most cases were found in the early stages of the epidemic since early March, with the number of new infections below 500.
.
Related
