China detects Covid-19 in pork packaging imported from Brazil

A district in the Chinese province of Shandong detected Covid-19 in a package of pork imported from Brazil. Wendeng province officials have determined that everyone who has had contact with pork must inform the government.

It is not the first time that Chinese authorities have detected traces of the virus in Brazilian meat. In August, a batch of chicken wings exported by Aurora Santa Catarina tested positive. At the time, the virus was also detected on the packaging. Aurora’s chicken-producing unit in Xaxim (SC) had its exports to China suspended despite the lack of evidence that food transmits the disease.

In the case of the pork packaging with Covid-19 traces detected in Shandong, there is still no information available on which Brazilian slaughterhouse produced it.

According to ABPA (the Brazilian association of animal protein), the contamination may have occurred during one of the stages of transporting the product to the Asian country. In a note, ABPA maintained that evidence suggests that the contamination did not occur at the meat processor. ABPA does not yet have all the details of the case in China, but it is working with the Brazilian government to assist with information. The agency also emphasized that there is no evidence that Covid-19 is transmitted via food consumption.

The Ministry of Agriculture said it had not yet been officially notified by the Chinese authorities of the alleged identification of traces of the new coronavirus in the packaging of exported Brazilian pork. The episode was identified by the local health service and not by GACC (the General Customs Administration), with whom Brazilian attachés in Beijing maintain direct contact. Therefore, the information has neither been confirmed nor officially announced.

Source: Valor Econômico

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