China says frozen chicken imported from Brazil tested positive for coronavirus

The Chinese government on August 13 reportedly informed that a sample of frozen chicken wings imported form Brazil tested positive for coronavirus. According to international media reports, the consumers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen have been urged to exercise caution when buying frozen food. Shenzhen’s health authorities also reportedly traced and tested everyone who might have come into contact with potentially contaminated food products. 

The sample taken from chicken wings was a part of routine screenings carried out on meat and seafood imports since June when a new outbreak in Beijing was linked to the city’s Xinfadi seafood market. The Chinese authorities reportedly informed that the chicken came from an Aurora Alimentos plant in the southern state of Santa Catarina. 

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While the health authorities tested people and products that possibly came into contact with the product, they reportedly informed that all came back negative. As per reports, the Shenzhen Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters said that the public needed to remain cautious and must take precautions in order to reduce infection risks. 

In recent months, as China has been screening all meat and seafood containers coming into major ports, the country has also suspended some meat imports from various origins, including Brazil. Back in July, China’s customs authority also detected coronavirus on the packaging of frozen white shrimps imported from Ecuador. On August 12, the officials again found traces of COVID-19 on the packaging of shrimps imported from the same region. 

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Elimination of ‘hidden dangers’ 

The Chinese custom authority reportedly said that the suspension of imports is in a bid to protect consumer health and ‘eliminate hidden dangers’. Meanwhile, the testing campaign by China came after coronavirus was found on a chopping board used to cut salmon at a food market in Beijing, which led to an outbreak of COVID-19 among workers in the area. 

While there is no evidence that the virus can be spread through food, China still halted the imports of Salmon from European suppliers. It is believed that the deadly virus cannot reproduce and cannot survive at room temperature, however, the Chinese health experts also noted that the contaminated food put in cold storage could be a potential source of transmission.

(Image: Rep/Unsplash) 

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