Beverage producer Nongfu Spring, which had two of its products implicated in a recent arsenic scandal, questioned the original samples drawn for quality tests by authorities, saying the episode was manipulated.
"Even if the final test was accurate, it was absent of legitimacy I've no idea where the sample products came from," said Zhong Shanshan, chairman of Nongfu Spring, clamoring for legislation on inspection and testing institutions in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.
Haikou's Industrial and Commercial Administration Bureau on Dec 1 recalled its previous statement of toxic arsenic contamination in fruit juice products made by Nongfu Spring and Taiwan-based Uni-President after a re-test conducted by the testing center of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine confirmed these products were safe for consumption.
The bureau issued a warning on Nov 24 stating Nongfu Spring's mixed fruit and vegetable juice and its Shuirong C100 grapefruit juice made on June 27 and Aug 16, respectively, along with Uni-President's peach juice Peachate contained excess amounts of the toxic chemical arsenic after a test by the Hainan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
All implicated products sold in the city of Haikou were pulled off the shelves immediately, which Nongfu Spring estimated will cause the company to lose over 1 billion yuan.
"We set up an investigation group on Dec 2 to start looking into the detailed law enforcement procedures of the local industrial and commercial watchdog," said Huang Chengmo, bureau chief of Hainan province's industrial and commercial watchdog, the superior counterpart of the bureau in Haikou city.
China's Food Safety Law stipulates that the health administration authorities, rather than the industrial and commercial watchdog, should be responsible for announcing food safety risk warning information.
Xinhua quoted Zhong as saying that the entire test procedure was "not legitimate and was masterminded", without elaborating who may have been behind the scenes.
According to a survey conducted by major portal Sina.com, more than 88 percent of about 124,000 respondents said that Haikou's industrial and commercial authorities should compensate the companies and make a public apology, while 86 percent said that those responsible "should be severely punished, even dismissed".
農(nóng)夫山泉生產(chǎn)商,關(guān)于涉及最近的兩項(xiàng)產(chǎn)品砷超標(biāo)丑聞,說(shuō)事件有幕后的操控,并質(zhì)疑原產(chǎn)品樣本被做了手腳。
新華社透露,農(nóng)夫山泉總裁鐘睒睒在接受采訪的時(shí)候,強(qiáng)烈的要求政府機(jī)構(gòu)再次采樣時(shí)說(shuō),"即使政府抽取樣本是以正常的渠道,但我也有權(quán)利懷疑樣本生產(chǎn)的來(lái)源。"
位于?诘墓I(yè)和商業(yè)管理局在十二月一日回復(fù)了先前的關(guān)于農(nóng)夫山泉品牌的果汁中砷超標(biāo)的言論,并且在中國(guó)管理局在密封的情況下再次對(duì)農(nóng)夫山泉的產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行檢查,此次證明,其產(chǎn)品是安全人類使用的。
在十一月二十四日封查了農(nóng)夫山泉所有在六月二十七日和八月十六日由Uni-President在海南生產(chǎn)的混合性飲料和蔬菜果汁以及水溶C100葡萄汁,上述飲料均涉及了砷超標(biāo)事件。
所有在?谏a(chǎn)和銷售的產(chǎn)品都被立刻召回了,農(nóng)夫山泉估計(jì)損失1億元。
"我們?cè)谑露战M織了一個(gè)調(diào)查小組,開始調(diào)查關(guān)于地方的執(zhí)法部門"黃成模說(shuō)。
中國(guó)食品安全法規(guī)定,只有健康管理執(zhí)法部門,而不是工業(yè)或商業(yè)的監(jiān)督部門,才有權(quán)利全部關(guān)于食品的危險(xiǎn)信息。
新華社引用鐘的話說(shuō)"此次策劃是不合法的",后幕沒有精心的策劃。
經(jīng)過市場(chǎng)民意調(diào)查,對(duì)于121000答卷人中的88%說(shuō)海口的工業(yè)和商業(yè)檢查部門應(yīng)該賠償其農(nóng)夫山泉的損失,并且向公眾道歉。有86%的人表示,應(yīng)該嚴(yán)懲?诘墓I(yè)是商業(yè)檢查部門,甚至革職。