Sunday, January 17, 2021

Chinese ice cream contaminated with COVID-19, report says

Chinese ice cream contaminated with COVID-19, report says

China has come up with a new ice cream no one wants to try. 

During routine government testing recently, three samples from a northern China ice cream company came back positive for COVID-19. 

Officials now believe that 4,836 boxes of the ice cream may have been contaminated — more than half of which had already been distributed for sale when the test results came back, Sky News reportedFriday.

Only 2,089 boxes of ice cream could be confiscated in time, the report said.

The ice cream was produced by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company, where the 1,662 employees were tested Thursday, and were quarantining.

Dr. Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds in the UK, told the outlet an infected person most likely contaminated the batches. 

“Of course, any level of contamination is not acceptable and always a cause for concern, but the chances are that this is the result of an issue with the production plant and potentially down to hygiene at the factory,” he said. 

Griffin explained the virus could have survived in the product due to the ice cream’s cold temperature and fat. 

He also urged the public not to panic over the mishap. 

“We probably don’t need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus,” Griffin added. 

Officials said those who might have bought the ice scream should report their status so the health department could track potential cases.

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