Two popular brands of canned pork from China are being sold widely in Vancouver despite mounting concerns in Asia that the tinned meat carries a cancer-causing antibiotic.

Singapore has banned the products, which are popular in Vancouver’s Chinatown and in Richmond, after finding traces of nitrofurans, an antibiotic used for killing bacteria and which can cause cancer, in Maling and Gulong canned meat.

The Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety said there is no plan for a product recall until furthers tests had been carried out.

According to Singapore’s The Straits Times, the city-state’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority had destroyed a consignment of canned pork products from the two food-processing plants after finding traces of nitrofurans.

Maling insisted its consignments to Hong Kong and other parts of the world are different from those sent to Singapore.

“There is absolutely no need to worry,” Shi Min, Maling quality control spokeswoman was quoted in Hong Kong as saying.

Shi also denied using any poisonous additives during manufacturing, saying:
“Nitrofurans are poisonous, we will definitely not put that into our cans. No factory will be so stupid to use it in the production process.”

Shi did not rule out the possibility the chemical may have been fed to the pigs.

Hong Kong Food Trades Association vice president Lee Kwong-lam said the government should check if the products being sold in Hong Kong are from the same batch as those shipped to Singapore.

Canada does not recognize the meat inspection system in China. Currently, the only type of meat products that are eligible to be exported to Canada from China are commercially cooked canned meat products from Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) approved establishments with approved meat inspection programs.

The importation and consumption of meat products from non-approved CFIA establishments could put consumer health at risk, it said.

At Press time CFIA had not put out an alert on Maling and Gulong canned meat.
The Maling Food Co., is based in Shanghai, where it owns a processing factory.

The products are mainly exported to Europe, North America, Japan and Southeast Asia.

The main products — such as pork luncheon meat, ham, rice pudding, and tomato ketchup — have won many Chinese accolades for their excellent taste, smell, color, and high nutrition, the company’s website boasts.