China's FDA Discovers High Levels of Fungus in Three Squirrels' Nuts
CFDA, 8/15/17
The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) recently published the results of a food product safety sampling program, identifying pistachio nuts produced by Anhui-based Three Squirrels E-Commerce that contained high levels of mycete, a type of fungus.
The CFDA found that the pistachios had mycete levels of 70 colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g), which was 2.8 times the limit imposed by national standards (25 CFU/g).
The pistachios were sold through the Tmall Supermarket channel of Alibaba Group's (NYSE: BABA) B2C e-commerce site Tmall.
The CFDA's recent sampling program has tested 449 product samples in 7 food product categories, including cookies, roasted seeds and nuts, pastries, soy products, honey products, sugar, and candy products. Of these samples, 446 were found to meet safety standards, while 3 products failed to pass inspection.
The CFDA has already requested that relevant provincial authorities investigate the product samples that did not pass inspection.
Editor's Note: Three Squirrels earlier this year was sued for an illegal additive found in its tea product. For more information on this topic, please see "Nuts and Snacks E-tailer Three Squirrels Sued for Illegal Additive in Tea," MD 3/07/17 issue.
Keywords: scandal e-commerce Internet B2C Alibaba Group BABA Tmall Supermarket Three Squirrels China Food and Drug Administration regulation