China begins investigation of tainted eggs
By MarketWatch
Last update: 11:08 p.m. EDT Oct. 28, 2008
BEIJING (AFP) — Officials in northeastern China said Wednesday they were looking into reports that eggs from a local company were tainted with the chemical melamine, state media reported.
The government of Dalian, a major port city, said in a notice that contaminated eggs discovered in Hong Kong were produced by a local company on Sept. 6, the Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua didn’t name the company. Earlier reports had mentioned the Hanwei Group, one of China’s top egg producers.
The discovery of the tainted eggs has led to mounting fears that melamine, which has been blamed for killing four babies and sickening 53,000, may have contaminated a larger share of China's food supply than previously thought.
So far melamine has been discovered only in dairy products or products containing dairy ingredients.
said Tuesday it had pulled Hanwei’s eggs from its shelves in China, emphasizing that it was a precautionary measure and that products from Hanwei inside the country hadn’t yet been found to be contaminated.
Hong Kong health authorities reported during the weekend that they had found melamine in eggs produced by the Hanwei Group.
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