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The incident occurred in Changli County in the central province of Hebei. The area has been dubbed the Bordeaux of China. According to a broadcast by state television, these wineries were doctoring their beverages with sugar water, colouring agents and artificial flavourings, and then falsely using famous brand names, the Global Times said.
This is the latest food safety scare to rattle consumer confidence in a country still reeling from the notorious 2008 tainted milk scandal according to the news item by AFP, based on the state media report.
According to a leading industry expert, Huang Weidong, the additives could reportedly cause cardiac irregularities and headaches, and were possibly carcinogenic. "We are highly concerned about this behaviour. To ensure safety measures, we have already started to remove the suspected wines from the shelves," a spokesman for Beijing area Wal-Mart stores said.
The Xinhua news agency reported that provincial authorities had shut down nearly 30 wineries. Corporate accounts with funds totaling $427,000 have been frozen, the Global Times said.
More than 5,000 boxes of wine have been seized, the reports said, though it was not immediately clear how much of the adulterated wine was already on store shelves.
Changli County produces one third of China's domestic wine, state media said.
The reports come as China is gearing up for New Year and Lunar New Year celebrations, a time when wine and alcohol purchases traditionally increase.
The raids and the scam are in stark contrast with the other end of the spectrum where the affluent Chinese have made Hong Kong the world’s biggest auction venue barely two years after the waiver of duties on wine imports. The rich Chinese consumers and collectors have taken the price of Chateau Lafite and other top wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy to unprecedented and dangerous highs. This made DelWine recently exclaim that:
Asian Tiger brings Boom in Wine Auctions
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Sidd Banerji Says: |
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Rapid rise of wine consumption following large scale increase in interest in it, in India,makes it imperative to be cautious on its making,trade and distribution system.Much before such things touch our country let us formulate methodology and administrative control/checking system so as to maintain the pristine height the industry maintains today, is unhurt. |
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RAJIV SETH Says: |
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Dear Mr. Arora, Though China implemented its wine laws but they are far from being standred degree of complience. To implement wine laws a country need to install proper infrastructure of complience authorties, like inspecting teams etc, more over these teams have to be trained on wine laws. In other words proper system which works and not only in papers will have to be installed not to forget the training structure for inspecting teams . India will have to gear up for that also.As I have already mentioned in my artical China Vs. India, the chinese production of grapes does not match with the total wine produce, it seems that a huge quantity of wine is made under fraudulent prectices. |
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