Mouse heads found in canteen lunch boxes in China highlight food safety
concerns
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[June 28, 2023]
BEIJING (Reuters) - For the second time in a month, a mouse head
has been found in a lunch box meal of a cafeteria in China, state media
reported on Tuesday, sparking online witticisms and a larger debate
about food safety in the country.
The head of a rodent was found in a lunch box in the cafeteria of
Xiushan county's traditional Chinese medicine hospital, according to
state media, citing a statement from the market regulation bureau of the
county in Chongqing municipality.
A video posted online showed the mouse head in a dish of moyuya, or duck
stewed with konjac, a local specialty, according to China Daily.
The hospital said its cafeteria catering is outsourced to a third-party
provider through government bidding and had never encountered such an
issue before, according to the report that cited local media.
When contacted by Reuters, a hospital official who did not want to be
identified by name, told Reuters to refer to an "official report",
without elaborating.
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It was the second time a mouse head
had apparently found its way into a dish this month after a student
at Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College in Nanchang posted a video
of "an object with teeth, eyes and nose" in his rice dish at a
college cafeteria on June 1, according to the South China Morning
Post.
Officials at the college could not be immediately
reached.
On social media, people expressed concerns over food security
following the two incidents.
"From now on, cafeterias should install cameras and play
surveillance video at the dining hall," said one user on China's
Twitter-like site Weibo.
In 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation said 518,600
cases of food safety violations were investigated and dealt with
nationwide.
Although food safety in China has improved in recent years,
inspections by market regulators of products last year did find
problems more common among agricultural products and in the catering
industry, according to state media.
(Reporting by Bernard Orr and Ethan Wang; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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