The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement on Friday that no abnormalities were found in retests on cold-chain meat products imported from Brazil.
The statement pointed out that the bureau launched a contingency plan after the General Administration of Customs in Beijing announced on Friday that outer packaging samples of frozen meat products “imported from Brazilian enterprises with registration numbers 4507 and 1751” tested positive for COVID-19 in the Nucleic Acid Tests (NATs)
According to the statement, measures such as source tracing, investigation and retests of the involved enterprises’ products have been adopted. Local businesses have been requested to seal the products, while samples were collected for retests.
The bureau has also suspended the applications for importing products from the enterprises involved and that measures for imported cold-chain food products have been adopted, the statement said.
Various arrangements will be made to suspend applications for import and inspections on the level of imports into the city when the bureau is notified that a product from a registered venue in a particular country or region tested positive for COVID-19, the statement added. After the suspension period, the bureau will also carry out NATs on the registered venue’s outer packaging, inner packaging and food products.
Regarding the level of market sales and circulation, the bureau evaluates the stock of products imported from the registered venue into the city through “cold-chain food products tracing system”, the statement said. The statement added that businesses will be notified to seal the products and, to further eliminate risks, send staff to collect random samples for NATs.
The bureau reminded the public to purchase cold-chain food products from “licenced and reputable businesses” to ensure that the products’ source, storage and transport abide by laws and regulations.
Moreover, the statement added that consumers must follow pandemic prevention measures when making purchases and not touch food products directly.
The statement pointed out that once taken home, products can be separated and placed in lidded containers or food storage bags, and placed in a refrigerator. Food products with outer packaging can be cleaned with 75 percent alcohol before being stored in the refrigerator.
Raw food and cooked food should be handled separately, the statement said, while two sets of kitchenware such as knives and cutting boards should be used. Kitchen equipment, countertops and sinks should be cleaned after handling food, while refrigerators should also be cleaned and disinfected regularly.
Food must also be thoroughly cooked before consumption, and cooks must ensure that hands are clean before touching food.
