Egg sales in decline after latest scare

By Zhu Chengpei, Wang Hongyi and He Bolin (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-30 07:31

Sales of eggs at the Xinfadi Wholesale Market in Beijing fell 10 percent on Tuesday, in the wake of the latest melamine contamination scare, the Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The slump has been blamed on recent reports of eggs contaminated with melamine being exported to Hong Kong from a farm in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Xiao Ying, a doctor from Beijing's Chaoyang district, said he is becoming increasingly worried about where to get his protein, following food safety scares involving two of his staples, milk and eggs.

The Dalian government yesterday issued a statement saying the melamine found in the eggs exported to Hong Kong might have come from contaminated poultry feed.

Officials from the city's quality supervision, inspection and quarantine bureau have conducted a series of tests on the eggs produced on Sept 6 by Hanovo Foods, the statement said.

Initial findings suggest the contamination came from the poultry feed, it said.

A total of 72 batches of eggs from Hanovo have been tested, but only those produced on Sept 6 were found to be tainted, it said.

The company said earlier that it had recalled seven containers of eggs from Hong Kong and that two others bound for the region had been sealed and prevented from being shipped.

China Daily tried to contact Hanovo yesterday, but the company was unavailable to comment.

Wu Beiwen, a resident of Dalian, said: "I just don't buy eggs these days. I doubt the ones produced by other companies are safe.

"I'm a bit disappointed with the country's food industry," she said.

At a Carrefour store in the city, a sales assistant who refused to give her name, said that although the management had not issued a statement to take Hanovo eggs off the shelves, the products had not been selling well.