PepsiCo imports fail Chinese quality control

More than 150 imported food and cosmetics items failed quality tests including PepsiCo's orange concentrates and Mead Johnson's milk powder for babies, it reported.

Frozen chicken from the United States and cookies from Denmark also had flaws, including less nutritional value than claimed on the packaging and bacteria levels that were too high, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Strict quality testing ​

In a statement emailed to Shanghai Daily, the US-based drinks company said: "PepsiCo applies strict quality testing standards to its imported fruit juice concentrates​." The company said that it had had informed customs about below quality frozen orange concentrates imported from Brazil and returned these products to the suppliers in the country of origin.

PepsiCo markets orange juice in the country under the brand name Dole and has a bottling plant in the Guangdong Province, southern China.

The quality inspections conducted in July also revealed that about 300kg of Mead Johnson's milk powder for babies had "a lack of protein​," said the administration. Milk powder quality is a highly sensitive subject in China following the fatal melamine scandal last year.
Danisa Butter Cookies were also reported to have failed the inspection.

Of the 150 products that failed the new, tougher quality inspection tests, 39 failed products were said to come from the US or were imported by US-based firms.

Failed inspections​

The latest beverage and food rejections follow a number of other failed inspections earlier this year. In March, 37t of whey protein imported by Beingmate in the US and 5.2t of Wahaha protein imported from New Zealand were found to be tainted with potentially harmful bacteria.

In the first quarter of the year, the inspection agency identified flaws in 1,800 imported food items. The problem food and beverages included frozen seafood, chocolates and grape juice supplied from 60 countries or regions including the US, Japan and European Union nations.