China state media slams Sinograin over alleged use of fuel tankers to transport cooking oil
By Reuters
July 8, 2024 7:15 AM EDT

BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Monday criticized the state grains stockpiler Sinograin after local media reported that its fuel tankers were allegedly also used to transport cooking oil, sparking food safety concerns.

The Beijing News last week reported it was an “open secret” in the transportation industry that Sinograin was using tankers to transport both fuel and food products like cooking oil, soybean oil and syrup, without cleaning the tankers in between.

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Chinese consumers have been increasingly sensitive over food safety, with consumers turning to foreign brands and Beijing stepping up controls, after a series of scandals, including the sale of baby formula containing lethal amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in 2008.

Sinograin, in a Weibo post on Saturday, said it had ordered an investigation into whether transportation carriers leaving and entering its warehouses were compliant with food safety regulations.

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