By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-23 08:44

The alleged contamination of Chinese-made frozen stuffed buns and fried pork rolls exported to Japan was likely to have been caused by loopholes at two Japanese wholly funded producers, China's top quality watchdog said on Friday.

Japanese media reported on Tuesday that methamidophos, a pesticide, was detected in two batches of frozen steamed stuffed buns from China. Another pesticide, phorate, was also found in a batch of Chinese-made fried pork rolls.

However, investigations found the two firms involved - Shandong Nicky Foods Company and Qingqing Nicky Foods Company - are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Nicky Foods Company in Osaka, Japan, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said in a statement.

Related readings:  Contaminated buns produced by Japanese firms  Dumpling sabotage reports at Chinese factory 'subjective guesswork'

The administration said the companies followed Japanese production procedures and standards, and were supervised by Japanese staff.

"The contamination is likely to have been caused by loopholes in the producers' purchase of raw materials such as vegetables," it said, indicating the companies might have bought from suppliers other than designated export-oriented farms.

Meanwhile, another AQSIQ statement released on Friday said China had suspended all exports from the Shandong-based Wangyu Aquatic Food Company, whose mackerel products exported to Japan were allegedly contaminated with dichlorvos.

However, it said the mackerel were originally caught in Denmark and all flavorings except salt were provided by the Japanese importer.

Local quality authorities in Shandong also tested 18 samples from the factory, including all raw materials and packages, but found no traces of pesticide, according to AQSIQ.

These alleged contamination incidents, along with a food poisoning case claimed to have been caused by unsafe frozen dumplings from China two weeks ago, have sparked safety scares in Japan over Chinese-made food products.

Both nations have pledged to cooperate in investigating these cases to avoid damaging diplomatic relations.

AQSIQ said on Friday that a team of senior Chinese police officers, including top criminal investigator Wu Guoqing and toxicologist Wang Guiqiang, had arrived in Japan on Wednesday to help investigate the dumpling case.