By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-24 09:39

Chinese food exports to New Zealand meet requirements and are safe, the New Zealand government has said.

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Extensive testing of local and overseas food conducted by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority showed that none of the 15 samples of vegetable proteins from China - which have been linked to the deaths of pets in North America - tested positive for the harmful chemicals blamed for the deaths, China News Service reported yesterday.

Results from the tests of 31 samples of tinned or frozen Chinese seafood, including anchovy, prawns and shrimps, matched what Australian and US scientists had found: Despite some samples testing positive for low levels of chemicals, they were safe to eat, the report said.

"All these results, even the highest at 0.058mg/kg, were well below any level that would pose a health risk," Glen Neal, the authority's assistant director, was quoted as saying.

The report also quoted New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark as saying that some Chinese products did have problems, but it did not make all products from China unsafe.

The New Zealand Herald, the biggest local English newspaper, said in an editorial last week: "Prejudice against foreign food is easy to arouse anywhere, and China is suffering that prejudice at present."