Man arrested for role in contaminated egg sale
China has detained a trader who was involved in the sale of ‘red-yolk’ duck eggs that were contaminated with a carcinogenic dye.
Earlier this month, authorities in major cities including Beijing found Sudan IV, a cancer-causing industrial dye, in duck eggs available for sale at local markets.
Red yolks are seen by consumers as sign of extra nutrition, and they command a premium price.
Police in the northern province of Hebei, the place where many of the contaminated eggs have come from, have arrested a man believed to have supplied the dye to farmers. Farmers then mixed the dye with the birds’ feed, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
Local reports indicate that a total of 10,400 ducks have been culled, while 2,025 kg of duck eggs have been destroyed.
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