Chinese police arrest 38 for selling contaminated chicken feet

Chinese police have arrested 38 people after seizing more than 30,000 tonnes of contaminated chicken feet in provinces including the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Chicken feet are a common menu in restaurants across China and the arrests were made after police raided nine supplier factories in nearby Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guangdong provinces, reported the Xinhua news agency. The item is primarily used in soups.

Police in Yongjia County of east China’s Zhejiang province said they made the arrests after discovering that the chicken feet were contaminated with hydrogen peroxide.

While 38 people have already been detained, Chinese police are still on the lookout for 11 suspects.

The first contaminated snacks were found in Yongjia last September, following which an investigation was launched that led the police to break up 35 national sales networks, valued at over $48.76m.

Hydrogen peroxide, which is used to whiten the feet, can cause vomiting and other stomach problems if consumed.

This latest development is not the only food scandal China has been hit with in recent months. In July, the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed a meat factory owned by US-based OSI Group for selling out-of-date meat, and last week, US-based HJ Heinz had to recall batches of infant food after it was found to contain more lead than the allowable limit.

China was the largest buyer of chicken feet from the US in 2013.