Beijing authorities called a halt to production of Ruihua, one of Beijinger's favorite Popsicle producers, during the weekend after media revealed a quality scandal of its products, which contain an excessively large amount of bacteria.
Ruihua Old Popsicle, which sells around 50,000 units per day for 1 yuan each, mostly in tourist sites, contains bacteria 1,767 times higher than that stipulated in the national standards for cold beverages, according to the Beijing News. The newspaper sent samples to a test center in Beijing, and found the batch, produced on April 1, to be extremely unhealthy. It was merely a mixture of water and additives.
The Shunyi district administration for industry and commerce, together with food safety officials, raided Ruihua Cold Beverage factory in Liqiao township Friday for an inspection. Quality and technical supervision authorities will have the product tested again and have halted operations until the official result comes out.
The coliform bacteria found in the samples is 240 times higher than the standard level, according to the report.
Fan Zhihong, a food safety expert at China Agricultural University, said that excessive amounts of coliform bacteria mean the food has been seriously tainted by excrement.
"The factory workers could have touched the products without washing their hands after going to the toilet, or the water they used is seriously polluted. Eating Popsicles like that could lead to intestinal diseases, vomiting, and diarrhea," Fan said.
Liang Yanyan, a Beijing resident, said she used to eat Popsicles, but never paid attention if they bear quality safety labels on the packaging or not.
"I thought it contains less additives and calories than ice cream and might be healthier, but didn't expect it to be so disgusting," she said.
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