Herbal tea drink on sale despite ingredient scandal  

广药接连陷入“质量门” 王老吉凉茶打折促销

综合报道，近期，广药集团接二连三遭遇“质量门”，先是其子公司生产的维C银翘片被曝含有砷、汞残留，后又陷入“山银花代替金银花”的行业风波。最近，由于多地王老吉凉茶进行打折促销，广药王老吉公司又被疑资金链断裂。负面消息不断，广药似乎遭遇了“倒春寒”。

(CNS) -- Wong Lo Kat, a type of Chinese herbal tea drink, went on sale in many cities despite being accused of secretly switching out an expensive ingredient, according to China Economic Net.

A report by China Economic Net said a can of Wong Lo Kat is priced at 2.7 to 2.9 yuan ($0.46) at chain supermarkets in many cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Fujian province's Zhangzhou, with a 30-percent discount.

Insiders said the discount is mainly due to the tea maker's capital shortage rather than seasonal promotion. Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Corp, the producer of Wong Lo Kat, said it will invest 2 billion yuan in marketing, but insiders also said the firm only had a net profit of 30 million yuan in the past year.

Li Chuyuan, general manager of the company, refuted such claims and said it has sufficient capital for rapid growth.

The corporation has been involved in a series of scandals this year.

International Financial News last week quoted an industry insider saying that almost all herbal tea makers replaced honeysuckle with lonicera confusa, which is cheaper and has the opposite effect. Guangzhou Pharmaceutical did not respond to the report.

Vitamin C Yinqiao tablets, a popular anti-flu medicine made by a subsidiary of the corporation, were found to contain toxic substances last month, and the company said all the pills have been taken off the shelves and sealed for investigation.