China finds excess preservatives in chilli products

BEIJING, June 10 (Reuters) Thirteen percent of all chilli products in China have excessive amounts of preservatives, causing them to fail safety tests, the country's quality watchdog said today.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also found 8 per cent of dried vegetables and dried fruits had failed safety tests.

The agency said it had inspected 46 chilli products produced by 38 firms in 12 provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu, and found excessive amounts of preservatives in 13 per cent of the products.

''The products produced by small firms have lots of safety problems, while those from large and middle-sized ones have all passed the safety tests,'' it said.

The main problems were excessive preservatives and labelling that did not comply with government regulations, it stated.

The administration found shortcomings in 8 per cent of some 50 dried fruit and vegetable products it had inspected from 48 companies in six provinces and municipalities.

Their main problem was that they contained excessive decolourant and sulphur dioxide, the watchdog said.

The Chinese government said this month it was launching an offensive against dangerous medicines and bad foods that have alarmed consumers after a series of health scares involving the country's poorly-regulated food and drug industries.

Several countries have banned some Chinese toothpaste brands found to contain a potentially dangerous additive and the United States has banned some Chinese animal feed. On Sunday, China recalled a brand of air freshener from sale in Beijing after three canisters exploded.

REUTERS SLD RAI1956