Three products fail China's latest food safety spot checks

BEIJING — Samples of three food products have failed the latest spot checks on food safety conducted by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), the administration said in a statement Thursday.

A total of 493 batches of samples featuring six categories of food products underwent spot checks, with the three failed products ordered to be removed from shelves or recalled.

A cheese product distributed by a Shanghai-based company was suspended for containing too much yeast, with content 6.8 times higher than the national standard of 50 CFU/g.

The excessive yeast might have resulted from either the contamination of raw materials during processing or the contamination of products due to the lack of control over storing and transport conditions, according to CFDA.

The other two failed products were a fermented bean curd product from central China's Hunan province and a tofu product from the Southwest city of Zunyi, both of which were tested positive for coliform bacteria.

According to a recent guideline jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and nine other central government departments, China is looking to complete its product quality traceability system by 2020, which targets key products including food, medicine, special equipment, dangerous materials and rare earth.

The system will provide information regarding sources, destinations and accountable persons to reinforce product quality and safety, the guideline said.