After the coronavirus was detected in Ecuadorian shrimp packaging, Chinese traders stepped up inspections of these shrimps。

Last Friday, after the new coronavirus was found in the packaging of frozen white shrimp imported from Ecuador, many Chinese online platforms and restaurants began to stop selling or recall Ecuadorian shrimp products, raising concerns that these shrimps might be contaminated.

A Beijing barbecue chain told that they have stopped selling all dishes involving Ecuadorian white shrimp, will continue to strengthen import channels, and require suppliers to provide nucleic acid testing for all seafood products.

Wal-Mart told Friday that they immediately conducted a comprehensive investigation of all Ecuadorian shrimp in the store, and Wal-Mart confirmed that it did not have any Ecuadorian shrimp.

According to data from the Ecuadorian Aquaculture Association (CNA), from January to March 2020, shrimp exports from Ecuador reached US$ 908 million, a year-on-year increase of 12%. China, the United States and Spain are the top three export destinations, with exports to China increasing by 59.4% year-on-year. In March, China purchased 56.9% of white shrimp, and in April this proportion rose to 82%.

These contaminated products were found in Dalian customs in Liaoning province in northeastern China and Xiamen customs in Fujian province in east China.

Based on nucleic acid sequence analysis and expert judgment, the test results show that the container environment of the goods and the three companies outside the packaging may be contaminated by the new coronavirus.

This discovery comes at a time when China is stepping up testing of imported food, after the virus was discovered on the cutting board of newly cut salmon in a large food wholesale market in Beijing. This is the first positive result announced since the enhanced testing.

But Weng said that unlike the salmon case, seafood importers have strengthened the nucleic acid testing of imported foods and will continue to sell foods that test negative.

Weng said: 'We will not remove Ecuadorian white shrimps that have tested negative for the new coronavirus unless we are asked to do so.'

Nevertheless, Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the Department of Pathogen Biology of Wuhan University, said that this incident prompted the Chinese customs authorities to continue to strengthen inspections of people and food, especially cold chain food.