The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said in Beijing on Thursday its initial inspection showed contaminated duck eggs were mainly sold in Beijing.

Special teams dispatched to Anxin county and Jingjing county in north China's Hebei province, the source of the eggs, are continuing to investigate.

AQSIQ ordered local officials at all levels to carry out special inspections of egg products and poultry meat after alarms were raised concerning red-yolk salted duck eggs that are suspected of containing the carcinogenic industrial dye, Sudan-IV.

Stricter inspections were carried out in Beijing in distribution and food processing firms to ensure that dangerous dyes do not contaminate eggs. 1158.7 kilogram of eggs were isolated by Beijing's food safety watchdog.

The alleged contamination was revealed by a weekly quality report program on China Central Television.

Enterprises found using the cancer-causing colorant, Sudan, will be ordered to stop production and sales and recall all products containing Sudan. They are liable for prosecution and punishment.

The red Sudan dyes are used legally in the leather and fabric industries but are banned for use in foods. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, has assessed Sudan dyes as Group 3 genotoxic carcinogens.

AQSIQ also called on its local officials to inspect firms producing Sudan to ascertain exactly where their products go, emphasizing that it was illegal to sell Sudan to food processing enterprises.

Ducks bred in the wild that eat small fish and shrimps usually produce red-yolk eggs. AQSIQ warned people not to eat eggs with abnormally red yolk.

Source: Xinhua