The hairy crabs sold in the Chinese capital's markets do not
contain carcinogens, Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office said
Monday in a test report.
The office has been carrying out tests since Thursday by
sampling 20 hairy crabs from the city's major aquatic product
markets. The crabs are chiefly imported from east China's Jiangsu and Anhui provinces and central China's Hubei province.
The tests were aimed at detecting nitrofuran, an antibiotic
linked to cancer, and forbidden fishing drugs. The report said none
of the hairy crabs sampled contained the illicit substances and all
meet standards.
The office said they will make regular tests of hairy crabs and
reinforce quality monitoring of all aquatic products in
Beijing.
Health officials in Taiwan last week impounded a batch of hairy
crabs from Jiangsu province's Yangcheng Lake, claiming they were
found to contain nitrofuran.
The allegation, however, was refuted by Jiang Yuan, director of
the food section under the Jiangsu Provincial Entry-Exit Inspection
and Quarantine Bureau, who said that pre-leaving inspections on
crab samples had found no abnormality.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)