State-owned egg producer cited for excessive drug residues

A wholly State-owned enterprise in Laishan district of Yantai, Shandong province has been publicly named by local market regulators for selling eggs with excessive levels of veterinary drug residues.

According to a supervision notice issued on May 25 by the Yantai administration for market regulation, the fifth phase of food safety sampling of this year revealed that eggs produced by Yantai Phoenix Digital Industry Development Group Co failed to meet national standards.

The company, a fully State-owned enterprise based on publicly available business registration information, was found to have egg samples containing sulfonamides at levels 69 times of the maximum residue limit stipulated in China's national food safety standard (GB 31650.1—2022), which sets the cap at 10 μg/kg for poultry eggs.

Sulfonamides are synthetic bacteriostatic drugs commonly used in animal disease treatment due to their broad antibacterial spectrum and stability. The administration noted in an accompanying guide that long-term consumption of food with sulfonamide residues exceeding limits could pose certain health risks.

The authorities have ordered the company to trace the product flow, recall and remove non-compliant batches from the market, mitigate risks, conduct rectifications, and investigate the causes. Consumers who have purchased the affected products or encounter them on the market are encouraged to report via the 12345 hotline.