Thirty companies MANUFACTURING CENTURY EGGS IN CHINA are under suspicion of involvement in the latest food scandal -- speeding up the production process using industrial copper sulphate.
Century eggs, called 'pidan' in Mandarin, are a popular Chinese delicacy here. They are usually made using duck eggs, which are packed in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, rice hulls and quicklime to preserve them, a process that usually takes a few months to complete.
According to a China Daily report, 30 companies involved in the production of pidan in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, have been closed by the Chinese State Food and Drug Authorities.
The companies are suspected of using industrial copper sulphate, which halves the time period for preserving the eggs from two months to just one.
Three plants producing the eggs had been revealed by CCTV to be using copper sulphate. Two of the three plants' licences were found to be in order, raising concerns that the practice might be common among all processers in Nanchang county, which produces 300,000 tonnes of preserved eggs annually, or about 15 per cent of the country's total, according to CCTV.
Industrial copper sulphate usually contains high levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and cadmium, so is banned for use as a food additive.
