XIAMEN - The Chinese coastal city of Xiamen has found 4.9 tonnes of food connected to tainted lard produced in Taiwan, inspection and quarantine authorities said on Sept 11.

An official with the entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau of Xiamen said the port did not import tainted lard from Taiwan oil suppler Chang Guann Co, but found 3.2 tonnes of pork products, such as meat sauce, and 1.7 tonnes of snacks, including butter biscuits, that allegedly contained the company’s tainted lard.

The bureau requested that importers recall and seize the related products.

Inspection and quarantine authorities in Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province also seized 60 kg of food on Wednesday, allegedly in connection with the tainted lard, including noodles, beef and sunflower seeds, which were returned to the exporters or destroyed.

Police in Taiwan busted a ring selling hundreds of tonnes of recycled cooking oil made from kitchen waste and grease from leather processing plants last week.

Chang Guann Co., a well-established cooking oil supplier in Taiwan, purchased the recycled oil to produce 782 tonnes of lard, with most of it sold to food companies and restaurants, including a number of leading brands, such as Wei Chuan Corp. and 85’C Bakery Cafe.