Shanghai to begin Covid test on all “high risk” food imports

The government of the Chinese city of Shanghai has said that all imports of what it qualified as “high risk” frozen foods should be tested for coronavirus and have packaging disinfected before being stored or sold locally.

The announcement follows a publication in the city’s official WeChat account, in which officials have not specified what “high-risk” imports mean. Two other Chinese cities say they found the virus in frozen imports.

China is stepping up testing of frozen foods after detecting viruses in several imported products; this has led to import suspensions, even though the World Health Organization (WHO) says the risk of catching Covid-19 from frozen foods is low.

The southern city of Xiamen said on Monday, November 16, that it found the virus in packaging on a French pork shipment during a random inspection, adding that the shipment reached a cold storage chamber on October 14.

A separate news report from the state agency Xinhua said that a county in the city of Jining, in eastern Shandong province, found Covid-19 in a sample of frozen seafood imported on Saturday.

The two new cases follow others released over the weekend.

Source: Reuters

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