Market supervision officials examine a Farine outlet on Wukang Road yesterday. Authorities seized expired wheat flour yesterday after a whistleblower said the popular bakery uses moldy flour.(Jiang Xiaowei/Hu Min)
Police yesterday held eight executives for allegedly using expired flour in a popular downtown French bakery chain.
Police said the executives included at least one foreigner. No nationality was disclosed.
Four bakeries run by Farine in Xuhui and Huangpu districts and the Pudong New Area, were suspended and sealed by local authorities yesterday.
The bakeries violated China's food safety law by using food items beyond their expiry date, according to Yan Zuqiang, director of the Food and Drug Administration. The executives would take legal responsibility if found to have committed crimes, said Yan.
Xuhui District market supervision and management bureau destroyed a batch of bread at Farine's flagship store on 378 Wukang Road. Law enforcement officials took away several samples for further investigation.
The market supervision authority of Minhang District has also investigated the company's headquarters on Jinglian Road in Minhang and confiscated more than 500 packs of expired wheat flour.
"The bakery company was suspected of using expired flour to produce a total of 3,820 breads since March 6, which were distributed to its franchises in Xuhui, Huangpu and Pudong New Area," Wang Zhe, deputy director of the Minhang Market Supervision and Management Bureau said.
Wang added that 1,930 bread items were sold and the rest had been destroyed.
At La Manufacture, Farine's headquarters and factory in Minhang, expired flour was sealed by the bureau.
A pack of imported rye flour weighing 25 kilograms, produced by Minoteries Viron in France, was said to have expired last November 29. Production at the factory has been suspended.
"After receiving the tip-off, we sealed 578 packs of flour of 13 batches at the factory and immediately ordered the bakery to suspend production," Wang said. Samples had been sent for tests.
Expired flour with expiry dates from July 28 last year to March 5 this year had been made into 11 types of breads and sold at the four outlets, according to the bureau.
An executive of Farine said there is no regulation targeting the expiry period of wheat and wheatmeal in France, and flour can be used for two years even if the Chinese label shows its expiry period is nine to 12 months, according to the record of Minhang District Market Supervision and Management Bureau, which interviewed Farine.
Expired flour is harmful to health, experts warned.