In the black workshop, bamboo shoots untreated were piled in the sink full of filth, some of which had already become moldy. On June 26th, at the height of summer, crisp and tender bamboo shoots and cucumbers stimulated people's appetite. But if they knew how these foods were produced, their appetites might be gone. The food safety enforcement team of the public security detachment of Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau destroyed an illegal food processing plant and seized a large number of "three-no" foods sold through Gaoqiao wholesale stores to catering enterprises in Changsha. The police reported the case today.
The stench in the black workshop was nauseating. In early June, after receiving reports from the public, the food insurance enforcement team found that the bagged crispy bamboo shoots and pickled cucumbers sold in some stores in the Gaoqiao market were "three-no" packaged foods of substandard quality. After investigation, the police discovered that these substandard foods originated from an illegal food processing plant located in Lito Township, Yuhua District, Changsha City. On June 22nd, the officers of the first squadron of the Food Safety Team, together with the quality supervision department, investigated the black workshop.
The processing factory rented a warehouse in Lito Township as its processing workshop. The production environment was terrible, with the production area mixed with the living area of workers, resulting in a chaotic scene. When the law enforcement officers entered the processing workshop, they were shocked by what they saw: "Four rust-streaked sealing machines leaned against the wall, while on the other side were tile and cement-repaired brining pools filled with a large amount of cucumbers, bamboo shoots, and pickled peppers. Chairs, fiber bags, and other miscellaneous items were also piled up inside, with swarms of flies buzzing around, and the entire place was permeated with a nauseating sour smell."
Can moldy and rotten food still be edible after washing? Based on preliminary investigations, the production capacity and sales volume of the processing plant were relatively large, but not many pre-packaged finished products were found on-site. The operators and workers of the plant were evasive about this. The police immediately conducted an investigation around the processing plant and discovered the plant’s warehouse within a small courtyard less than 10 meters away from the plant.
The warehouse was equally disordered, with pre-packaged finished products such as crispy bamboo shoots, crispy cucumbers, and dried lettuce slices randomly stacked together with other living clutter. Due to the hot weather and poor storage conditions, the police casually opened a few boxes of finished products and found that the food inside had already molded and deteriorated. The factory workers unabashedly said, "As long as it is washed and cooked, whether it has deteriorated or not is basically indistinguishable."
Gaoqiao Market becomes the wholesale transit point
Law enforcement officers caught the head of the illegal processing plant responsible for processing crispy bamboo shoots and cucumbers, Huang Jianying, along with four workers. The boss admitted that the workshop could produce 60 to 80 pieces of finished products daily, mainly selling them to catering enterprises in Changsha through wholesale stores in the Gaoqiao Market.
After further investigation and verification, it was found that all relevant production procedures and business licenses of the processing plant had expired, making it an unlicensed processing plant. Currently, law enforcement personnel have sealed all production equipment, raw materials, and finished products of the plant, and Huang Jianying and others have been handed over to the city's Quality Supervision Bureau for administrative punishment. ■ Reporter Huang Juan Intern Song Yuan
Remedial Actions
Changsha police strictly crack down on illegal activities in the food safety sector.
Gaoqiao becomes a key area for food additive rectification.
On June 26th, "the wholesale and retail stores for food additives in Hunan Province are mainly concentrated in the Gaoqiao Market in Yuhua District, with a total of 62 sales outlets. If Gaoqiao is well regulated, the main flow of food additives in our province will be controlled." This morning, the Food Safety Enforcement Team of the Public Security Detachment of Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau, together with the Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Quality Supervision Department, inspected the food additive sales and operating households such as Yuansheng Chemical and Wei Zhiyuan in the Gaoqiao Flame Market, focusing on rectifying crimes involving "one illegal and two excesses" in food additives.
It is reported that since its formal establishment on June 18, 2009, until June 2011, the team has successfully solved 38 criminal cases related to food and drugs. They arrested 69 suspects involved in various counterfeiting and selling fake goods, destroyed 19 counterfeit dens, investigated 91 stores selling fake goods, confiscated toxic and harmful milk powder worth nearly 60 million yuan, and seized counterfeit food, fake cigarettes and liquor, and fake seasonings worth more than 21 million yuan. ■ Reporter Huang Juan Intern Song Yuan
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