Seafood in the Chinese stores of retail giants Carrefour and RT Mart both failed food safety spot-checks by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the government agency charged with enforcing China’s food safety laws.
Excessive traces of chemicals, including malachite green and sulphanilamide, were found in samples of tilapia, yellowhead catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) and other species in outlets of the supermarkets in Haikou city, Hainan province. A recent statement from the SFDA explains how its officers conducted unannounced inspections of the city’s supermarkets and lists the chemicals it detected.
It’s unclear if the chains' supermarkets in Haikou were closed as a result of the tests, as has happened with other retailers when meat was found to have excessive traces of antibiotics. However, increased SFDA testing of live fish tanks, which are common in Chinese supermarkets due to a consumer preference for live product, creates a problem for Chinese retailers – the emptying of fish tanks in Beijing supermarkets grabbed national headlines last autumn due to a resulting shortage of fish.
