China bans some US chicken, shuts Pepsi plant

 Beijing

China banned imports from a top US poultry producer and ordered a Beijing Pepsi factory to close yesterday as authorities clamped down on food production and distribution amid a new coronavirus cluster in the capital.Health officials also reported 22 new virus cases in Beijing, where they have tested more than two million residents as they seek to contain a wave of new infections linked to a wholesale market in the capital.

Imports of frozen chicken from Tyson Foods have been “temporarily suspended”, the General Administration of Customs said, after a virus outbreak was found at one of the company’s production facilities in the US. Products from the firm that have already arrived in China will be confiscated, the statement said.

US food and drinks giant PepsiCo was also ordered to shut down one of its snack-making plants in Beijing after several employees tested positive, company spokeswoman Fan Zhimin said.She added that 87 close contacts had been traced and quarantined.

More than 220 people have so far tested positive from the new Beijing clusters that have been traced to chopping boards used to handle imported salmon at the city’s Xinfadi market. The market supplies more than 70 pc of Beijing’s fresh produce and has been closed, with officials on Friday advising citizens to dispose of frozen seafood and bean products bought there.

Officials on Friday also announced a nationwide campaign to inspect all fresh products coming from “high-risk countries” following reports of new virus clusters at plants in Germany and the US. Authorities are targeting those who work in restaurants, supermarkets, markets and food delivery couriers for testing, according to Gao Xiaojun of the Beijing Municipal Helth Commission. Dozens of communities have also been sealed off in the city to contain the spread, with residents told to avoid non-essential travel and schools closed.