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| China says US soy beans unsafe |
SHANGHAI, Aug. 22 -- CHINA'S top food safety regulator today said it has found repeated food safety problems in soy bean imported from the United States and demanded the US take "effective actions" to solve the problem.
Pernicious grasses such as ragweed have been detected in the genetically modified beans imported from the US by several entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureaus around China during the last few months, which put the country's forests and ecology at jeopardy, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection of China said on its official Website.
China imports millions of tons of soy beans from the US every year.
Toxins were also found in those weeds, which may threaten the health of human beings and livestock, it added.
Inspection authorities also said they segregated soy bean diseases from clods in the soy bean shipments, which could endanger China's soy bean production.
The administration said it found metalaxyl and azoxystrobin, two pesticides that may cause potential threats to Chinese consumers in a batch of soy beans imported from the United States in February.
Other problems included substandard protein and oil content in the beans, the administration added.
Those problems were examples to demonstrate the loopholes in the planting, harvesting, storage, transportation and export inspection of the soy beans by the US, the administration said.
The administration had already notified US officials of the problems so they could investigate, the administration said.
It added that the administration would continue to strengthen the supervision and inspection of imported beans to ensure that the food was safe for domestic consumers.
China's soy bean imports, mostly from the US and Brazil, have almost doubled since 2003-04. Imports from January to July rose 2.6 percent to 16.9 million tons, according to customs data.
China is the world's largest buyer of soybeans, and the US is the world's largest producer.
China has recently stepped up efforts to enhance food quality and ensure food safety to protect the interests of consumers in both China and other countries.
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