Jiugui Liquor Co. Ltd. suspended trading of its shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on November 19 after excessive levels of a chemical were found in its baijiu.
The business news website 21cbh.com said tests it commissioned found high levels of a plasticizer in the baijiu, a popular Chinese liquor.
The website bought Jiugui liquor and sent it to Intertek Group Plc., which did the testing. The Shanghai company allegedly found the plasticizer.
A plasticizer is a chemical added to plastics to make them more pliable. Plasticizers can cause serious health problems. They can impair male fertility and cause early puberty in females. They can also harm the immune and digestive systems.
Plasticizers can end up in beverage products during manufacturing and storage when the liquid comes in contact with plastic.
The tests found that one kilogram of Jiugui's baijiu contained 1.08 milligrams of plasticizer, higher than the 0.3 milligrams allowed by the Ministry of Health.
Jiugui has sent samples of its baijiu to the government to be tested for plasticizer content, company Vice President Fan Zhen said.
Jiugui had a net profit of 459 million yuan for the first nine months this year, up 433 percent compared to the same period last year, its financial report showed.
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