Expired ingredients spark probe

Shanghai's food watchdog is looking into a company suspected of selling expired ingredients that ended up at several bakery chains.

The Shanghai branch of Foodgears Industrial International is under investigation for violating food safety law, said a press officer surnamed Yang with the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration.

Authorities began investigating the company right after China Central Television (CCTV) aired its annual consumer rights' day gala on Saturday.

The program featured an exposé revealing that several problematic manufacturers, including a food processor, Hangzhou Guangqi, sold expired imported dairy and bakery ingredients to several bakery chains, including the popular BreadTalk chain.

Hangzhou Guangqi kept their ingredients "fresh" by altering the expiration dates on their packaging, according to the program. The company also repackaged a foreign brand of flour after screening out the worms that had infested the product.

One of the products Hangzhou Guangqi stored in its warehouse, Oldenburger brand whipped cream, was produced in 2009 and expired about two years ago, according to CCTV's news report.

Hangzhou Guangqi bought some of its food from the Shanghai branch of Foodgears. A sales manager from Foodgears acknowledged that they sold the whipped cream to Hangzhou Guangqi, but said the sale occurred three months before the product expired, according to the report.

However, the manager also offered to sell expired chocolate to an undercover CCTV reporter at a 50-percent discount.

A warehouse worker from Foodgears told the reporter that using the chocolate wouldn't be a problem as long as its customers never found out. The worker also suggested that the practice was common throughout the bakery business.

BreadTalk has pulled all products made with ingredients from Hangzhou Guangqi, according to a company press release. The company said that only its Hangzhou stores bought ingredients from Hangzhou Guangqi. Its Shanghai stores used a different supplier.

A BreadTalk press officer surnamed Luo told the Global Times that they have sent the ingredients sourced from Guangqi to authorities for inspection.

Luo said the bakery chain checked Hangzhou Guangqi's certificates each year and was shocked by the news.

Foodgears' offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong could not be reached for comment by Sunday evening.