The Chinese government said it would start a food-safety investigation after public outrage followed a news report that a tanker truck carried liquefied coal and was then immediately used to transport cooking oil.
Last week, The Beijing News, which has a reputation as one of mainland China’s boldest newspapers, reported that it had witnessed a tanker truck previously used to transport industrial coal oil being loaded with soybean oil.
The tanker was not sterilized between the loads, according to the newspaper, which said the episode took place in late May in Yanjiao, in Hebei, near Beijing.
Several truckers interviewed for the piece said that often tankers were not cleaned before being loaded with cooking oil, sugar or other substances to be taken to wholesalers and other businesses.
In the past two decades, China has repeatedly dealt with food safety concerns, including infant formula laced with melamine and cooking oil being recycled for continued use, a practice commonly known as using “gutter oil.”
Organizations:
Beijing
Locations:
Yanjiao, Hebei, Beijing, China