BRASILIA/BEIJING The Chinese city of Shenzhen’s government on Thursday identified a Brazilian meat plant owned by Aurora, the country’s third largest processor of chicken and pork, as the source of chicken wings that tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The Shenzhen government identified the plant by its registration number in a posting on its website, that when checked against Brazilian records linked it to an Aurora facility in Brazil’s Southern state of Santa Catarina.
Aurora, an unlisted company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that it was seeking clarification on the matter but had not received official notification from Chinese authorities.
“There is no scientific evidence of transmission of the COVID-19 virus from frozen food or food packaging,” the ministry said, citing the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
The Shenzhen government said a sample taken from the surface of the imported frozen chicken wings had tested positive.
But the Brazilian ministry emphasized that the Shenzhen government statement said that other samples of the same cargo tested negative, as did everyone who came into contact with the meat.
Registered meat plants in Brazil follow strict sanitary procedures and their products are safe, it said.
As of Wednesday, six Brazilian meat plants remained blocked from exporting to China, according to the Chinese customs agency’s website, after they were barred over concerns about coronavirus amid reports of thousands of cases spreading throughout the industry.
Shares in Brazil’s largest chicken exporter, BRF SA , fell by more than 5% by midday trading, with others in the sector showing smaller losses.
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Authorities in the Chinese city of Xian on Thursday separately reported that the outer packaging of shrimp imported from Ecuador also tested positive for the coronavirus.
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